Upon the Wings of the Guardian
by Oirarana
Summary: Hitsugaya Toshiro has always felt something within him, an odd sensation of power and knowledge beyond his comprehension, but now this feeling has picked up, increasing rapidly as all of Soul Society prepares for war. AU, future Yaoi
1. Prologue

Here it is, the prologue of my first multichapter fic, the first chapter will be posted within the week

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, I do not make money from this fic.

Currently Unbeta'd

(edited for minor mistakes 31/8/08)

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Existance is based upon several founding structures; the cycle of reincarnation, the spiral of life, and what is known simply as the dimensional layers.

All of these structures are interlocked, the cycle of reincarnation works within the lower four dimensions, while the spiral of life is based off of the cycle of reincarnation and ends at the highest dimension.

But it is the dimensional layers which form the basis of all existance; at the bottom is Hell, a place where evil beings are punished until their sins are forgiven. Above that is Hueco Mundo, the realm of the lost spirits. Placed directly in the middle is the material realm, where the souls of all decide their fate in the next step of the spiral. Next is Soul Society, the mirror of Hueco Mundo, Soul Society is the place for all those spared from Hell, and is merely a waiting point for the next phase of the cycle.

The highest dimension is the realm of the King; it is vast beyond comprehension and filled with the souls who have fulfilled their time within the cycle of reincarnation and have reached the pinnacle of human achievement.

While the King's realm is the true paradise of existence, there are those who wish to enter it before their time, and those who have tried to overthrow the King himself.

It is for this reason the barriers of the realm are protected by an army of specially chosen Shinigami, who are led by the Guardians of Heaven.

The Guardians are beings of such power that it cannot be contained in human form, and so take the appearance of majestic dragons. The only being stronger than they is the King himself, whose power is so great that the form he takes is only limited by his will.

However, threats to his throne come not only from without, but within. Millennia ago there was a great civil war in the Kingdom of Heaven, where a powerful spirit wished to sit upon the Throne of Heaven.

In this dark and terrible time fully half of the Royal Guards and Guardians of Heaven turned upon their King and comrades, for such was the persuasive powers of the Black Spirit.

Countless battles were fought and millions of spirits were cast down into the lesser realms as they died in battle, both those who had earned their place in the Kingdom Heaven and those who were never meant to enter those realms.

The effects of these battles were far reaching, each dimension was damaged from the released energy.

During an epic confrontation with the traitor, the High Guardian was mortally wounded, and so the King of Heaven sent his essence to the lower realms, where he would flit within the spiral of life until he could be reformed. The King also sent down the High Guardian's companion, who was ordered to follow his course in the great spiral and eventually aid him in his task.

When asked what this task would be, the King replied simply, "It shall be revealed in time"

Having seen to the continued existence of his most loyal servant, the King of Heaven took the comatose Black Spirit and completely obliterated it, removing the danger from existence entirely.

It is now, in his last stage of the cycle of reincarnation, that all the realms find the need for the High Guardian of Heaven.

The fate of all now rests upon his wings, and the hands that guide him.

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Well, let me know what you think, unfortunately, reviews give me the motivation to write more, which is why I'm posting it earlier than I would like, without encouragement it might take me a couple of months to get half a chapter.

Oh well, see you next time!


	2. Chapter 1

Ok, heres the first real chapter, I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own it, I don't get any money from it, please don't sue.

Warnings: AU, probable OoC, future yaoi

Currently unbeta'd

Chapter 1

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Kurotsuchi Mayuri was annoying, that was a fact quickly becoming apparent to Hitsugaya Toshiro.

Hitsugaya gave the man the respect warranted to a taicho but no more, he was certainly Hitsugaya's least favourite peer, currently he was lower on the list than Ichimaru had ever been and that was saying something.

Kurotsuchi had an intolerable amount of arrogance; he had stormed into Hitsugaya's office without making an appointment and had proceeded to demand that Hitsugaya give him sensitive data that was under his jurisdiction.

"I am afraid I am unable to give you the information you request of me, Kurotsuchi-taicho." Hitsugaya stated calmly, picking up his brush and looking over the report in front of him.

"What? Unable, or perhaps unwilling, after all, your actions recently didn't exactly prove yourself loyal, hmm." Kurotsuchi stated maliciously, his lipless mouth curving into a sadistic smile.

"I am not the one who enabled the Bount to enter Soul Society through my direct actions," Hitsugaya retorted evenly, not looking up from his desk.

"You know nothing about the circumstances surrounding that event!" Kurotsuchi growled, his arms flaring out in agitation.

"I know just as much as you do Kurotsuchi-taicho, perhaps more" Hitsugaya said tonelessly, before looking up at his _guest_ and glaring, "If I didn't then you wouldn't be here bothering me about the data."

"I require it immediately in order to conclude my files on the Bount!" Kurotsuchi yelled, slamming his hands on the desk, "I am the twelfth division's taicho and I demand that you give me the data that I require, boy!"

Hitsugaya stood up, eyes chilling, "You forget Kurotsuchi, that I am taicho of the tenth division! That data is under my jurisdiction, its contents are to be known only by myself and Yamamoto-sotaicho until it is declassified! Standard operating procedure state that declassification will occur between twenty and two hundred years, therefore wait until the data is available through the proper channels!"

"That's not good enough! You will hand over the data to me, or there will be consequences!" Kurotsuchi threatened.

"Whatever you may design will be nothing compared to what I will do to you." Hitsugaya said icily, "the Intelligence division is aware of some of your more…unpleasant activities within the lower districts of rukongai, which have yet to be declassified or revealed to the sotaicho. I do not interfere in the twelfth division's business, therefore I expect you to do me the same courtesy. Good day Kurotsuchi-taicho."

With that he sat back down, picking up a sheet of paper and reaching for a brush, not even flinching as Kurotsuchi slammed his office door closed.

Hitsugaya sighed, glad to have one less irritant to bother him, before taking the piece of paper and laying it on top of a similar pile in the bottom drawer of his desk.

The paper showed a caricature of Kurotsuchi sans hat being hit in the face with a bedpan.

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Kurosaki Ichigo was, for lack of a better word, depressed. While he had never been a particularly joyous individual, he always kept going forward, never letting himself fall and never looking back.

But this, it was too much even for the indomitable spirit that had taken on Soul Society and won, that had defended those he cared about from the Bount and won.

He had taken on those white-clad warriors and….lost; he fought his inner Hollow and was losing. To Ichigo, who had never let defeat get him down, being defeated simultaneously from two fronts had almost broken his will.

He was losing control of his very body, and he had no idea how to win against the manifestation of his darkest aspects.

What good was he? The only thing he could really give back to those he was close to was protection. From them he got companionship and care, people who actually worried for him and liked him.

In return he would protect them, not because they require it of him, Ichigo was not so far gone that he could believe that they would no longer care about him because he failed to win, but because that was his promise to them, his need to keep those he cared for safe.

What good was he if he could not do even that?

What would happen now that he couldn't do the one thing that gave him true purpose in life?

Would he even exist soon? He could feel his inner Hollow getting greater and greater control over him as the days went on.

Ichigo punched his bed in frustration, he was losing himself and he had no idea how to stop it from happening.

Even as Yuzu called him down for dinner, he could hear the harsh mocking laughter of the Hollow.

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Captains meetings were always interesting affairs as far as Hitsugaya was concerned. He could determine what his peers had been doing by they way the acted and interacted with each other.

For example Zaraki-taicho was always more sociable and prone to laughter when he had recently had a good fight, but when he hadn't, he was irritable, sour, and prone to drawing his zanpakuto for the smallest imagined slight.

Another example would be Kyoraku-taicho's subdued manner when he had been told of by Ise-fukutaicho as opposed to his normal smiles and happy-go lucky remarks.

"Ukitake is at the end of his tether," said a voice from behind Hitsugaya, "his eyes are narrowed and he's frowning"

Hitsugaya spared a glance at Ukitake-taicho before turning to look at the speaker, "his third seats have been pestering him more than usual, he's clenching and unclenching his left fist and he only does that when they've been at him too often"

Soi Fon smirked slightly, and opened her mouth only to be interrupted by Hitsugaya.

"His tuberculosis has also been giving him trouble, he is more pale than usual and he's taking unusually deep breaths."

It was Hitsugaya's turn to smirk as Soi Fon's expression soured.

"Listen to that Jushiro," Kyoraku said, nudging his white haired friend, "the spooks have got you all figured out." He started laughing as Ukitake let out a sigh, only to be stopped as Soi Fon spoke up.

"I wouldn't worry about the lack of sake Kyoraku, I'm sure your fukutaicho will relent in the end"

Kyoraku gaped as Hitsugaya continued after her, "I'm sure you will be able to convince Matsumoto to let you drink some of hers, its all she does anyway"

Now it was Ukitake's turn to laugh as Kyoraku spluttered, "How do they know these things"

Hitsugaya and Soi Fon shared a smirk as they walked off, heading further back into the meeting room as they waited for Yamamoto-sotaicho to arrive.

"I require information." Soi Fon began with little courtesy.

"On what subject?" Hitsugaya questioned; all traces of humour gone as he began to filter through the possibilities.

"Omega 27726227" Soi Fon stated firmly.

"No" Hitsugaya replied curtly, as he considered the implications of her request, and the fact she had used a light code to request it.

"What do you mean no?" Soi Fon questioned harshly, "I require that information!"

"I mean simply that, by order of Yamamoto-sotaicho that information is strictly classified; only he and I can view it, and only he can allow it to be revealed to others. If you need that information then you must submit a request for mild declassification to Yamamoto-sotaicho." Hitsugaya stated evenly.

"I see, thankyou for your time Hitsugaya-taicho."

Hitsugaya watched as Soi Fon walked away, breathing a sigh of relief at the ease of that 'discussion'. He, as head of the Intelligence division, had to deal with Soi Fon regularly.

While the onmitskido had their own intelligence network, it was not as expansive as his own, thus she often worked with him on high priority cases.

The low hum of conversation came to a halt as Yamamoto-Genryusai Shigekuni entered the meeting room.

At several thousand years of age, the sotaicho was an ever present aspect of Soul Society, for no one in the Seireitei could remember a time before him.

The powerful man proceeded to sit in his large carved throne, holding his cane loosely in his left hand.

"Captains," Yamamoto began, "We have are faced with yet another threat, one that we had hoped not to face so soon. Aizen Sosuke has begun to move."

At this statement most of the other Captains began shifting, concerned in the face of Soul Society enemy number one, only Hitsugaya, Kuchiki Byakuya and Soi Fon remained stoic, while Zaraki Kenpachi began to grin.

"According to information gathered by both Hitsugaya-taicho and Soi Fon-taicho, Aizen has managed to successfully create fully realised Arrancar and has sent them to the real world. Substitute Shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo engaged two Arrancar two days past and was defeated; it is only due to the timely arrival of Urahara Kisuke and Shihoin Yoruichi that the Substitute Shinigami is still alive."

Kenpachi started at this news, "They beat Kurosaki Ichigo? They must be decent opponents, sounds like fun."

"Some of us disagree with your definition of fun Zaraki," Kurotsuchi snapped, then added thoughtfully "although they would be interesting to experiment on."

"I suppose you'll let them into Soul Society like you did for the Bount eh, Kurotsuchi." Kyoraku said slyly.

"I'm not the only one who was deceived Kyoraku, Hitsugaya allowed them to get into the Seireitei, although I'm not surprised, after all, you can't trust a child to get a job done correctly." Kurotsuchi retorted.

"You should know that appearances are deceiving Kurotsuchi-taicho, Hitsugaya-taicho is no more a child than you or I" Ukitake piped up; indignant at the lack of manners the twelfth division taicho was showing.

"After all, you look like a demented clown," Hitsugaya muttered.

Kenpachi began to laugh, seeing as he had been standing closest to Hitsugaya.

"What was that brat?" Kurotsuchi screeched.

"Enough!" Yamamoto's voice resonated through the room, quietening all the occupants instantly, "You are not acting as taichos of the Gotei 13 should, this behaviour is inappropriate and unacceptable."

"So then, what are we to do about Aizen, sotaicho?" Komamura Sajin asked his large frame obviously tense due to recollection of his last encounter with the traitorous ex-taicho.

"I want one of you to lead a team to the human world and remain there to aid the Substitute Shinigami. It seems that something within the area around Kurosaki Ichigo's residence is drawing Aizen's pawns to it, gathered intelligence suggests that he's searching for something within the vicinity of Karakura town." Yamamoto paused to allow the new information to sink in.

"Who do you propose we send, Yamamoto-sensei" Ukitake asked, coughing lightly into his hand, when it didn't come away red he sighed in relief and looked up.

Yamamoto scanned his subordinates for a moment, "I believe that Hitsugaya-taicho would be the best candidate, he has a young enough appearance that he will not look out of place socialising with Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends and has the appropriate skills to find out what it is Aizen is searching for."

Hitsugaya nodded sharply and most of the other captains all made various signs of acceptance while Yamamoto pulled out a small folder and handed it over to Hitsugaya.

"Hitsugaya-taicho, I want you to select five Shinigami to accompany you for this assignment, inform me of your decisions tomorrow morning. You shall leave two days from now."

"Hai sotaicho"

"You are all dismissed."

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Something felt…off, and had since early this morning. Ichigo couldn't quite put his finger on it, there was something that felt weird but it was elsewhere, elusive.

In fact it wasn't until he walked into his classroom and saw Kuchiki Rukia and Abarai Renji sitting down talking quietly amongst themselves that he realised that they were partly what he had felt.

"Good morning Ichigo" Rukia chirped in that annoying fake happy tone that she always used at school.

Renji just waved as Ichigo stared at them in an odd mix of both shock and apathy, at least, he thought it was apathy, normally he would have been yelling in surprise, but now he just said, "what are you two doing here?"

"We can't tell you at the moment," Rukia whispered, "We'll explain later."

"Fine, whatever"

"Good morning Kurosaki," Inoue Orihime called out as she entered, stopping for a moment before adding, "Good morning Abarai, Kuchiki!"

"Good morning Orihime," Rukia replied happily, "Renji and I would love to talk with you and your friends about something a bit later if you don't mind."

"Oh…I see, ok Kuchiki, we'll talk later." Orihime replied quietly.

Any further talk was cut short as the sensei walked in, "Alright class, we have a few new students joining us today, so make them welcome," turning she called out "come on in and introduce yourselves."

As the 'new students' walked in to the whispers and mutters of "more new students", Ichigo couldn't help but be shocked at the familiar faces.

Standing at the front of his classroom was Madarame Ikkaku, Ayasegawa Yumichika, Matsumoto Rangiku, and Hitsugaya Toshiro.

Each Shinigami introduced themselves to the class, and Ichigo could not help but snicker at Toshiro's frosty "I am most certainly old enough for this class."

Maybe he would be able to pull himself out of the depression that seemed to be overwhelming him.

'_I wouldn't bet on it King!'_

Ichigo tried to drown out the Hollow with his schoolwork, but he couldn't shake free from the cold that emanated from deep within him.

He glanced away from his textbook only to look into a piercing stare, the teal eyes belonging to Toshiro seemingly unravelling his entire being.

Ichigo forced himself to form his usual 'what the hell are you looking at' facial expression, but it was a paltry framework of a mask, and Toshiro seemed to know it.

Abruptly breaking eye contact Ichigo turned away from Toshiro, his gaze lingered upon Ishida Uryu.

The dark haired Quincy had been even more aloof and antisocial than usual, but Ichigo could understand that, after all, he had lost his ability to fight.

Suddenly it hit him; Ishida had to be experiencing similar feelings to Ichigo, that same powerlessness that seemed to permeate the whole being of a person.

The spark of rivalry flared slightly, a gleaming ember amidst the blackness of his induced depression. Ichigo didn't notice it, but the spark would soon be blown into the inferno of strength that was his natural state of being.

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"So Soul Society sent you guys to help protect Karakura from Aizen and his Arrancar?" Orihime asked.

"Aa," Hitsugaya responded, "we have reason to believe that this town will be the focal point for Aizen's forays into this realm."

"What could he want with Karakura?" asked Sado Yasutora.

Matsumoto turned to the large Hispanic man, "apparently he's looking for something that can be found here, but we don't know what."

Ichigo looked around at the group, "but why were you guys in particular sent?"

"I was deemed the most suitable taicho to lead the group for several reasons," Hitsugaya began while Matsumoto stood behind him with her hand at waist level, causing a couple of aborted laughs.

"I can see why Rukia and Renji were picked, it's the same reason they were chosen when the Bount were a problem," Ichigo started.

"Aa, they are the best acquainted with this town and you and your group."

"But why the other three?" Ichigo finished, looking at Hitsugaya quizzically.

"Well, Hitsugaya-taicho asked me to choose a good fighter who was below fukutaicho rank, and I chose Ikkaku…" Renji said before being cut off by Ikkaku.

"And then when Yumichika found out I was going, he wanted to come, so I requested to Hitsugaya-taicho that he be part of the team."

"Of course," Matsumoto piped up, "when I heard that taicho was leading a group here I convinced him to let me come too!"

Ichigo watched in amusement as Hitsugaya tried to contain his frustration, and then snickered at the mumbled "of course I got stuck with the peanut gallery…"

Hitsugaya looked up at the sound and Ichigo was shocked by the intensity of the gaze, Hitsugaya turned to the group, "I have some things I need to discuss with Kurosaki, we'll be back later."

With that he walked off, signalling to Ichigo to follow him.

"I wonder what taicho is up to, I'm pretty sure we explained everything" Matsumoto said quietly"

"Perhaps Hitsugaya-taicho is going to beat some sense into Ichigo," Ikkaku suggested, "he looked all whiney and snivelling when we showed up"

"He did look down." Rukia agreed, "Maybe you're right."

"I'd want do something painful to someone who had allowed themselves to get into such an unbeautiful state" Yumichika added.

"What happened to cause him to look like that?" Renji asked.

Orihime's explanation left them all puzzled; Ichigo was too strong to let defeat get him down so easily, wasn't he?

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Hueco Mundo was not a happy place, in fact those who knew about it would put it in the top two most miserable places in the world, the first being of course, Hell.

It is for this reason that the presence of a smile in this barren dimension was something to be wary of.

Of course, even in the happier dimension of Soul Society people had been wary of the smile of Ichimaru Gin.

Ichimaru was by nature a dishonest man, and was therefore very trustworthy, because you can always trust that a dishonest man will be just that, dishonest, and so it was easy for him to be honest while seeming dishonest and, well, it confused everyone else too, honestly.

Only two beings had ever gotten completely through the clouds of untruth the lavender haired man enjoyed using, one was probably somewhere in Soul Society, the other hung at his hip.

After all, one shouldn't lie to a being that was a part of ones soul, because really, then one would simply be lying to oneself, and that was the one kind of lie Ichimaru had never told, and would never tell.

Ichimaru strolled through the halls of Las Noches, Aizen's huge fortified palace, his boredom leading him to explore the large structure, and his innate curiosity requiring him to check every nook and cranny for interesting things.

Now, technically speaking, Ichimaru did have something he needed to do. Being a commanding officer over Arrancar was no different than being a commanding officer over Shinigami.

Paperwork

Piles upon piles of evil little sheets of paper smeared with even more dastardly ink that grouped together to form the most evil thing in all existence.

Actually, Ichimaru thought absently, that perhaps if Aizen-san wanted to inflict himself most horrifically on everyone else, then he should work on making himself into paperwork.

He couldn't share this with anyone else though, aside from Tosen, everyone else was either above or below him in rank, and the blind ex-taicho was as obsessed with completing paperwork as he was with justice.

Oh how he missed Rangiku, together they could moan about paperwork and plan ways of getting out of it. Her little taicho wasn't too bad either; when the white-haired prodigy deigned to actually talk to him they had very interesting conversations.

He remembered fondly one such incident…

'_While I am aware of the habit of vital paperwork demonstrating its vitality by moving from where you left it to where you least expect to find it, somehow I don't think your paperwork made it all the way to my office on its own Ichimaru.'_

_The small master of information had looked at him testily before handing over a pile of folders that were marked 'for the urgent attention of the Third Division taicho'_

But Aizen-san had wanted him, so he had left, only to face more paperwork than he had as a Shinigami. But it was more interesting to terrorise his subordinates here, in Soul Society he would have faced dire consequences if he killed a subordinate.

In Las Noches no one cared about the death of a weak Arrancar, in fact he would be applauded by Aizen-san for disposing of the trash.

What to do? Perhaps he should go and talk with Luppi, that always proved to be interesting, and then maybe he could go and hunt down someone worth a fight, after all, Shinso got bored so easily, and he could use the excuse that his zanpakuto's whining distracted him too much to do paperwork.

Smile set in place Ichimaru leisurely strolled through the corridors of Las Noches in search of entertainment, all the while sorting mentally through the necessary tasks he had to preform.

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"What's up Toshiro?" Ichigo asked as the small Shinigami stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Firstly it's Hitsugaya-taicho to you Kurosaki…"

"Yeah, whatever" Ichigo interrupted quickly.

"Secondly," Hitsugaya continued, "I should be asking you that, as you are obviously disturbed."

"I'm fine" Ichigo stated dismissively, turning to walk away.

"It's fine that there's a Hollow gnawing away at your sanity?" Hitsugaya asked matter-of-factly, stopping Ichigo in his tracks, "that you are being targeted by a group that you have no knowledge of, and you can't even control your own body properly?"

"How…how did you know that?" Ichigo asked quietly.

"I didn't, not completely; after all, intelligence gathering is difficult, and often incomplete. You just confirmed the information given to me by my subordinates." Hitsugaya stated calmly.

"What are you, some kind of spy?" Ichigo yelled, the shock of having his inner turmoil exposed so easily turning into rage.

"I am head of the intelligence division of the Gotei 13; I suppose that would make me a 'spy' in some ways" Hitsugaya admitted, his face blank.

"How do you know these things? There have been no Shinigami around when I have been confronted by Hirako, my reiatsu control may be crap but I can still sense things. What about the Hollow? HOW DO YOU KNOW!?"

"I know exactly who Hirako Shinji is, I know what he wants from you, and when he enrolled here I knew from my agents, and could easily deduce who he was after. Conversation with Kuchiki-taicho among others revealed the presence of your inner Hollow. Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yoruichi informed me of your inability to control your own body when they explained the incident with the Arrancar."

Hitsugaya spoke with an even tone and a blank face, and every word bit deep into Ichigo.

"Consider yourself lucky Kurosaki; I do not speak with people so openly very often."

"Do you even know what suffering is?" Ichigo asked limply, his frustrated rage spent against the iron wall of Hitsugaya's calm, "What it's like to fail in your task? Have you ever failed?"

"A Shinigami knows much suffering Kurosaki," Hitsugaya said quietly, sitting down at the base of a nearby tree, "And I have seen my own fair share."

"Tell me." Ichigo stated simply.

"What?" Hitsugaya asked, shocked at Ichigo's bold demand

"You expect me to get over my troubles so that I can go back to being an effective weapon, I want to know what makes you think that you can just order me to get over it, what have you seen that makes my own problems seem trivial?"

"Did you know," Hitsugaya began casually, "that none of my academy class is alive anymore?"

"How?" Ichigo asked.

Hitsugaya smiled softly, "First let me ask, how old do you think I am Kurosaki? How long ago do you believe I left the academy?"

Ichigo scratched his head, "Um, a couple of hundred years ago, I guess."

"I graduated about forty years ago" Hitsugaya responded, "my class was reduced to a small handful when we began our final practical examination, over forty Shinigami were torn apart in front of my eyes by Hollows. I myself nearly died."

"That's pretty bad," Ichigo said, "but…um…"

"It is not enough to convince you," Hitsugaya finished, "You seek something truly horrible that might give you reason to carry on, that if I could continue then so could you."

Ichigo could only nod, shocked at the perceptiveness of the being before him.

"One of my greatest friends was killed because one of my comrades wished for him to die, he died terribly and his soul was destroyed. I couldn't do anything to stop it. Nothing." Hitsugaya said evenly, his face composed as usual.

"I…" Ichigo began.

"Please do not give me sympathy Kurosaki, I do not need it. If you wish to give me something then get stronger, overcome your obstacles, show everyone how powerful you are."

"There's more Toshiro, I know there is. The things you've told me, they are bad, but it doesn't compare with the horror of losing yourself. You don't have any idea of what it's like to not have any control over your body."

The way Ichigo spoke, with such absolute certainty, inflamed the small taicho. Who did this human think he was, dictating the importance of others' suffering. The hypocrisy of his train of thoughts did not occur to Hitsugaya.

"What would you know of my suffering Kurosaki? What makes you so certain that I have no idea about having control wrested from you? I was very young when I entered Soul Society, and I certainly didn't die by peaceful means."

"But…"

"You will be quiet Kurosaki, you know nothing. I will not deign to enlighten you. Listen to me or not, I don't care, but I will speak. The life of a powerful Shinigami is long and violent; if you cannot get a hold of yourself now then you will never last. Either you get stronger or you disappear, make your decision now, but if you disappear now then you leave as a failure and a coward."

Ichigo looked stunned; the icy glare combined with the freezing reiatsu chilled him to the bone.

"You may go Kurosaki" Hitsugaya said dismissively.

"Like I'll listen to you Toshiro" Ichigo responded, slowly coming back into himself.

"That's Hitsugaya-taicho to you!"

"Whatever you say"

With that Ichigo left, the rustling leaves above Hitsugaya's head drowning out all sound of his passage.

'_That should have been sufficient to bring some sense back to him'_ Hitsugaya thought, already regaining his composure.

All Kurosaki needed was a sharp shock to set him back on track, and Hitsugaya provided that all too easily.

Why then was it so hard to reign in the anger and hurt that welled up from the thoughts he needed to portray? For some reason he had trouble putting them back behind his barriers.

"We wear the mask…" Hitsugaya whispered softly.

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Somewhere on the outskirts of Karakura town, a strange event was occurring; a rip in dimensions was forming, the bright colours of one dimension, even in twilight, greatly contrasting the dark greys and blacks of the other.

From this phenomenon, known as a Garganta, came a myriad of Hollows, a multitude of shapes, sizes and strengths, each one setting off in a different direction.

Behind these Hollows stood a white clad figure, a white helmet-like series of bony plates rested upon the left side of his dark hair. Azure streaks coloured his white cheeks like two tear tracks.

Ulquiorra Schiffer gazed emotionlessly at Karakura town. Aizen-sama only required that he supervise his lesser, he was not to engage any opponent, and he was not to aid his subordinates.

It was not an interesting assignment, but it was important to Aizen-sama and so Ulquiorra would complete it to the best of his abilities.

On the other side of Karakura, another Garganta opened. This portal did not let forth a stream of Hollows like the previous one; instead a solitary white clad figure strolled out casually, a bone-white plate covering the left side of his lower face and neck, a line of vicious teeth ending where the mask broke off leading to normal human lips.

While Aizen-san's little toy led the distraction, he would begin to search in earnest. Really, that such a thing would be here of all places, such an unbelievable set of coincidences.

It had been funny to see Aizen-san's face when he realised that the object he was seeking was within the only area of spirit enriched land. The man had nearly popped trying to contain his rage.

A humourless smile graced the Arrancar's face; he would play along with Aizen-san's games for now. Perhaps he would finally get what he wanted, if not, well…Aizen-san would make for a good fight at least.

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End chapter 1

Please let me know what you think, this is my first multi chapter fic and I'd like to know if its any good. I'll endeavour to update once a month but I can't promise anything.

Thanks for reading


	3. Chapter 2

Tada, I present to you chapter 2, a full fifteen days earlier than I expected.

Thankyou to all those who have left reviews, you have motivated me to write more than I have ever been able to before, we have breeched 10 000 words.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any way shape or form**

**Warnings:** Violence, slight OoC, AU, and future yaoi

Alright, that's all I have to say for now, although I have a little interesting tidbit in the closing AN.

Enjoy!

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Karakura at night was a truly beautiful sight, twinkling lights dotted the town and lit up the riverside. However the peaceful scenery belied the turmoil that engulfed the area, a turmoil only a select few could notice.

Throughout Karakura that select few jolted at a feeling that only they could detect, a dirty reeking presence appearing within the range of their senses.

oOo

Deep within the bowels of a hospital, Ishida Uryu started at the feeling, causing him to get hit in the side by a spirit arrow from his father, Ishida Ryuken.

"Ignore it Uryu," the older man said, "it's a Shinigami problem, and I hold your oath."

The dark haired Quincy turned back to his opponent and prepared to continue his training, telling himself he didn't care what happened.

oOo

In the back of a small shop, several people stood up; knocking over the table they were sitting at.

One of them, a blond man with a white and green hat turned to his employees, "We'll go and check it out, Tessai, look after the kids."

With that curt order Urahara Kisuke walked out the door behind the other two and they all started running.

"This is bad Kisuke," the dark skinned woman remarked, "they don't seem too powerful, but something has to be behind them appearing in such numbers."

Shihouin Yoruichi was a severe looking woman who was well versed at keeping herself in check, but Urahara was able to see the concern in his childhood friend's face.

"Oi freeloader, how long do you think it will take for Hitsugaya-taicho's team to mobilize?"

"They're probably already fighting, knowing Ikkaku," the red haired Shinigami responded, "and Hitsugaya-taicho isn't slow either, so I'd say they'll be fully mobilised in a few minutes."

"That's true," Urahara said with forced cheer, "and of course Ichigo wouldn't be lying down on the job either."

oOo

Running through the streets towards the huge disturbance, Ichigo got the feeling someone was talking about him, the tingling feeling down his spine could of course been his disgust at the putrid and overwhelming reiatsu being emanated from hundreds of Hollows being in the same area all at once.

"What on earth are you doing spacing out at a time like this dimwit?" Rukia asked as she ran alongside him.

"Oi!" Ichigo responded indignantly.

"Why do you think there's so many of them?" Rukia asked seriously, her concerned expression causing Ichigo's retort to die in his mouth.

"Why else? Obviously it has something to do with Aizen, maybe he just felt like annoying us."

Ichigo could see that he had given Rukia something to think about, but before she could say anything they ran into the first group of Hollows.

The two Shinigami drew their zanpakuto, prepared to dispatch the foul spirits.

"Regardless of the why, we have a job to do Rukia, so let's just do it and be done with it."

"Aa"

oOo

"47, 48, 49, 50!" Ikkaku crowed as he finished dispatching the last of the Hollows near him, "Hey, Yumichika, what's your count?"

"Fifty seven. What they lack in quality they certainly make up for in quantity, ne Ikkaku?" the dark haired man responded, running his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, maybe by the time we've wiped them out we'll have had a decent warm up." Ikkaku replied as he headed towards the closest group of tainted reiatsu.

"I doubt it; their power is so ugly it won't do more than make us seem more beautiful."

"Has anyone ever told you that you can be really creepy?" Ikkaku asked

"You've told me on a regular basis ever since we first met" was the nonchalant response.

"Have I already told you that today?" Ikkaku queried as he reduced a Hollow to several smaller people.

"No"

"Yumichika, you're really creepy"

oOo

"Where could he have gone?" Matsumoto muttered to herself, "He's so inconsiderate; he knows I don't know much about gathering intelligence, and then he goes off and expects me to just know like he would."

Carelessly cutting down another Hollow, Matsumoto flicked her hair in annoyance, "It's not my job to figure things out, so he should just tell me what he's doing before gallivanting off to who knows where. Stupid Taicho!"

"Rangiku-san!"

A light, bubbly voice snapped Matsumoto out of her increasingly darkening mood. She turned around in time to see a large blast of energy race past her and disintegrate a nearby Hollow.

Behind the blast, Sado, affectionately dubbed Chad, gave her a smile as the small orange haired girl behind him waved spastically at her.

"Orihime, Sado, have you seen Taicho?" Matsumoto asked the two humans as they joined the fray.

"You don't know where Hitsugaya-taicho is Rangiku-san?" Orihime asked as she blocked a blast from a Hollow, giving Chad enough time to obliterate it.

"Well I was going to ask if you would let me stay at your place while I'm here, and Taicho said he already had a place to stay, so I haven't seen him for a couple of hours." Matsumoto responded as she released her zanpakuto, purifying all the nearby Hollows in a swirl of ash.

"Perhaps he is fighting the Hollows nearest to where he's staying?" Chad added, stretching his arm to release tension.

"That would be just like him, not even mentioning what he's doing. Let's clean this mess up so I can go tell him off."

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Kojima Makoto really had no idea why he was in 10th division; he was more technologically inclined than spy-like. Ah, wait, that's right, 12th division was way too creepy for him to join the Design Bureau, and 10th was the next best thing for a computer geek like him.

Of course, his inclination towards computers was what got him into the second company, rather than in the normal companies that made up the rest of the division.

He just wasn't cut out to be a Shinigami; he couldn't even release his zanpakuto. When he had mentioned this to his superior she had just smiled and told him that Hitsugaya-taicho had a reason to have him as one of 2nd company's 20th Seats.

Sitting in at his terminal alongside two of his peers, Kojima was expecting another quiet day of scanning, sadly, he was sorely mistaken.

A siren started going off in the command centre, the main display automatically switching to the emergency area.

"Status report" 1st company's 10th seat, Sagisu Hiroshi, ordered from his position above the other Shinigami.

"Sensors have picked up an incredible amount of reiatsu, the signature indicates they belong to Hollows, numbers are off the charts." Reported the man working next to Kojima, concern etched into his features.

"Location" the grizzled officer commanded, his fingers flying across his own terminal as he prepared to alert the rest of the Division.

Kojima was in his element now; tapping in commands at a rapid rate he brought the relevant information onto his screen.

"Location is Karakura town in Japan, sir!" He yelled.

Sagisu paused to look at him for a moment, before turning to one of the other 20th seats in the centre.

"Where is Hitsugaya-taicho currently stationed?"

As everyone else in the command centre recorded the information they were receiving the junior officer in question brought up the necessary data for her superior.

The senior officer wasn't surprised by the clipped, "Karakura town sir", that he received. As his fingers danced across his terminal the middle aged man barked his orders.

"I want numbers, power levels, Hollow concentrations, everything!"

Ignoring the chorus of 'yes's that he received he punched in the number to Hitsugaya-taicho's phone even as he sent of a basic report to 1st Division's main office.

Kojima winced as a basic graph of the reiatsu detected showed up on a portion of the main screen.

In the centre of the semi-circular image was a deep indent which indicated taicho-class reiatsu at the least, with decreasing levels of power as the Hollows moved away from this position.

Kojima's hands stayed dry and steady even as the rest of his body sweated profusely, he watched in horror as the sensors picked up more and more Hollows, the numbers increasing steadily.

Everyone jumped as a small explosion sounded throughout the large room.

"Status report!" Sagisu ordered loudly.

"Sir! The equipment monitoring the reiatsu levels exploded when it began an in-depth examination of the epicentre of the site!"

"Damnit! I want someone to get onto 12th Division, get them to place a freeze on Karakura town!"

"All of it sir?" queried the unseated officer who was currently responsible for communications.

"Yes, all of it. We don't want such a gathering to have an affect on the material plane, who knows what sort of damage these numbers might do."

"Hai!"

"I want a direct line with 1st and 2nd divisions, we need to mobilise some squads. Hitsugaya-taicho's team are facing too many opponents!"

"Hai!"

"Alert 3rd seat Musashi of the situation!"

"Hai!"

"And make sure 12th Division is getting the feed too, we wouldn't want to let them know just how much we know!"

"Hai"

Kojima winced as he continued monitoring the readings, knowing that no one would be getting any rest until this was dealt with.

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Throughout Soul Society, several divisions were slowly mobilising, like the unfurling tentacles of some monstrous beast.

Ukitake stood in front of the large Senkaimon that he had ordered to be opened, waiting for the advanced group of the relief team that he would be leading.

He began his pre-battle meditation, hoping that this would restrain his illness until he was no longer required to fight. Regardless, he would fight until he had no strength left if need be, after all, Hitsugaya was a good friend of his, and he would not let him die.

Ukitake remained seated even when the two onmitsukido squads arrived, only standing up when the two veteran squads from 1st Division arrived.

The ancient taicho surveyed the advance team, eighteen members of the Gotei 13 Black Ops, trained in multiple forms of combat and assasination, and eighteen members of the 1st Division, the veterans of Soul Society. No member of the 1st Division was under the age of five hundred.

They weren't numerous, but they were the best that Soul Society could mobilise on such short notice. Ukitake would await more squads from 8th and 11th Divisions before following this group into the material plane.

"Go quickly," the white haired taicho ordered, "Fight hard, fight well, and come back safely. I'll bring more reinforcements as soon as I can"

"Hai!"

With that, the thirty-six elite Shinigami began running through the Senkaimon, heading towards what may very well have been one of the largest pitched battles the spirit realms had seen in over a millennia.

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Ichimaru sighed melodramatically from his position behind Aizen; however the effect was lost on aforementioned scheming bastard, who was too engrossed in the video feeds which focused on his over the top distraction.

Ichimaru sighed again, louder this time, trying to get his superior's attention.

"What is it Gin?" Aizen asked as he turned to face his second in command.

"Aizen-san, why'd ya have to send those traitors out with Ulquiorra? I wanted to play with them!" Ichimaru responded, his face twisted into an overly put out expression.

Aizen couldn't help but laugh, "I'm sorry Gin, but I'd rather their deaths seem like an accident, rather than an execution. That way, anyone else that dislikes my rule will remain bold enough to reveal themselves."

Gin tried to hold the hurt look, but his face slid back into its default expression all too quickly, "I know that, but I still woulda liked to play with them."

"I'll tell you what Gin, when you've finished your paperwork I'll let you play with your choice of three of my failed experiments." Aizen stated indulgently.

"You're a cruel man Aizen-san, paperwork indeed. You just don't want to lose any of your experiments, do you?"

"Whatever could you mean Gin? I'm perfectly amicable to the idea." Aizen replied, a smirk spread across his face, "I will admit that I'm even more agreeable about the idea of you doing your paperwork on time for once."

"Fine then, I'll give it to you tomorrow." Gin replied, his face devoid of its trademark smile.

"You know Aizen-san; don't you think that this is a little extreme for what you've got planned." Ichimaru said, waving a hand to the screen where he could now see Shinigami in the distinctive onmitsukido outfits.

"You're right Gin, it is a bit much, but it's also very amusing to watch their reactions, don't you think?"

Ichimaru's smile returned, "Maa, I suppose, but it's still a bit of a waste, ne? I mean, there's this lot, and then the other thing too, not to mention Ulquiorra as well"

"It needs to be so big that it will delay them greatly in realising the magnitude of what happened." Aizen responded.

"That's true, and, it'll be fun as well I suppose. I do get to go with the next lot ne?" Ichimaru inquired.

"Indeed Gin, you can go, and you can have as much fun as you want in the time frame that is given." Aizen stated.

"Can I bring back Ran? And lotsa sake?"

Aizen groaned, he had exceeded his Gin dose for today it seemed, "No Gin, you may not bring back Matsumoto-fukutaicho. You can bring back sake if you want, I don't care."

"Yare yare, you seem busy; I'll just go and get started on that paperwork." Ichimaru said generously, turning and leaving the room.

Aizen allowed himself a sigh of relief as he turned back to the screen in front of his desk. Maybe his bribery would actually pay off, and Gin would have his paperwork done by tomorrow

oOo

Ichimaru began stalking off in the direction of his office, smile planted firmly on his face. Aizen-san never checked the paperwork given to him; he just had it distributed to the minions who needed it.

If he could just replace his pile with Tosen's completed pile, then he wouldn't need to do any paperwork, and he'd get to play with Aizen-san's experiments tomorrow. It was foolproof

Any Arrancar in his path quickly ran away in fear as Ichimaru passed by them…humming to himself!

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Ukitake looked over the six squads gathered in front of him, four from 11th division and two from 8th division.

"We head towards the largest concentration of Hollows seen in over a thousand years; our comrades are already fighting them fiercely as we speak!" Ukitake called out, his voice reverberating around the courtyard.

He thumped his fist to his heart, and all the Shinigami before him copied the motion. Ukitake allowed himself a small smile, 11th Division placed a heavy emphasis on tradition, and so would recognise this one, and Shunsui was as old as he was, so the 8th would know it as well.

"We, the warriors, go now into the field of battle!" Ukitake began the memorable speech given by Yamamoto-Genryusai Shigekuni at the beginning of the final battle during the unification of Soul Society.

"Believe that our blades will not shatter! Believe that our spirits will not break! Even if we walk separate paths, our iron resolve shall remain united! Swear that even if the ground crumbles beneath us, we shall return here, alive, again!"

"HAI!" The shouted response reverberated throughout the courtyard.

"Move out!" Ukitake ordered, drawing Sogyo no Kotowari and running towards the Senkaimon, hearing the sound of fifty-four zanpakuto being drawn and footsteps hitting the ground behind him as he entered the severed realm.

oOo

The minute Ukitake stepped into the material plane he was attacked. With a practiced ease he brought his zanpakuto down and bisected the Hollow that had rushed at him.

Two more Hollows came at him from either side, Ukitake quickly spun to his right, his long hair and taicho's haori flaring out behind him; he swept his zanpakuto up, slicing through the first Hollow.

As the spin continued he slashed it downwards again, easily dispatching his foe, he brought himself back into a ready position after completing a full turn.

Ukitake looked back as his team streamed forth from the gate, "split into teams of three and spread out," he ordered quickly, "start at the perimeter of the group and work your way in. You have ten minutes to get into position before the Kido Corps set up a containment barrier, so you must be quick."

"Hai!"

With that the group of Shinigami dispersed, a prearranged destination sent to their phones.

Ukitake began running towards the epicentre of the Hollow infestation, the high concentration of tainted reiatsu there required a taicho class fighter at the least, and really, and more would be best according to the information he had been given.

He could only pray that his body would be able to hold out long enough to complete the mission, he was looking at a week of bed rest after this if he made it back alive, so the only question was how long he was going to last.

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Ulquiorra watched with detached disdain as the three traitorous Arrancar Aizen-sama had sent with him talked amongst themselves.

He allowed himself a slight smirk; the trash didn't even know that their treachery was known. They would die here, whether by the hand of the Shinigami, or by his own hand, Ulquiorra almost hoped that the Shinigami didn't take care of them.

"Ulquiorra-sama," began the blue-haired leader of the group, Patros, "We would like permission to move out."

"Why?" Ulquiorra asked flatly.

"We sense a powerful Shinigami nearby, we want to eradicate them."

Ulquiorra spared a glance at the minion who had replied, Menis, before replying "Permission is granted, but only one Shinigami between the three of you."

"Hai, Ulquiorra-sama" Patros responded as he tried to contain a disdainful sneer.

Ulquiorra gazed blankly at the place they had stood moments before, the Shinigami they were heading towards was more powerful than they could tell; it would most certainly kill them all.

He turned towards the small copse of trees behind him, "You can come out now." He stated tonelessly.

He watched as a small, white-haired Shinigami walked out from behind a tree, "10th Division taicho, Hitsugaya Toshiro, a pleasure"

"I'm sure" replied Hitsugaya dryly, "You are the one called Ulquiorra, I'm afraid I don't quite know your rank."

"I am the Cuatro Espada, Ulquiorra Schiffer"

"Ah, thankyou, the pleasure is all mine." Hitsugaya folded his arms across his chest, his face smoothed blank, "It is curious to find you standing here, and not amongst your comrades."

"The same could be said of you, 10th division taicho," Ulquiorra responded, turning to face Hitsugaya, "your comrades are greatly outnumbered after all."

"My comrades are also a great deal stronger than yours." Hitsugaya stated, smirking as he committed himself to the dance.

"So then the deciding factor is simply which side makes more mistakes, is that not so?" Ulquiorra replied, his dull gaze drifting towards the battlefield.

"If that is true, then we have already won, for you have made the largest mistake of them all." Hitsugaya said, his own teal gaze following that of the Espada before him.

"Oh, and what might that be?" Ulquiorra queried, turning to gaze fully at his partner of the dance.

"Intelligence will always beat brute force, which has been proved repeatedly throughout the history of the material realm and Soul Society both. Your mistake was that you have a multitude of mindless beasts fighting here." Hitsugaya retorted calmly, "but that makes me wonder, what could be worth the waste?"

Ulquiorra allowed himself a slight smirk, "there could be many reasons, Hitsugaya-taicho, and I'm sure you are aware of them. Thus, the true question is, 'which one is correct', and how can you confirm it. Perhaps this is merely to shake things up, with no higher purpose than mere amusement. Can you really determine the truth before it becomes too late?"

Hitsugaya stood stock still at this proclamation, the Arrancar was right, he had many theories, and his opponent neither confirmed nor denied any of them, leaving him with more questions than answers. The only solution offered was so insane that his mind could barely comprehend it the implications of such actions.

A sudden ripping sound gained his attention; he turned to look as Ulquiorra stepped through the garganta he had just created.

"Goodbye, Jubantai taicho-san, I hope to see the full extent of your abilities at a later time" and with that, he was gone.

Hitsugaya cursed himself, he had tripped up in the dance, and so had lost both the chance of any information, and any illusion that Soul Society knew what was happening.

He pulled out his phone and dialled a number; he was going to have to warn Soul Society of the danger of further attacks. The fact that the enemy commander had left the area meant that either his side was losing, which wasn't yet the case, or this whole thing was just a distraction.

But for what?

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Ukitake stared at the three Arrancar in front of him warily, his guard not wavering for even a second. Three on one was not good odds, even for him, and these three looked like they were strong enough for him to require his limiter to be released.

As he quickly tapped a button on the communication device he was wearing, the central Arrancar stepped forward.

"Allow me to introduce myself Shinigami, I am Patros, and these," the blue haired Arrancar first pointed to the smaller, effeminate Arrancar behind him, "are Menis," and then to the bulkier dark haired Arrancar on his other side, "and Aldegor."

"13th Division Taicho, Ukitake Jushiro," Ukitake responded, before whispering into the microphone of his communicator, "requesting permission for limit release."

"Well then taicho-san, we'll be sure to have some fun with you." Patros stated maliciously.

As the two other Arrancar drew their swords, Ukitake brought his blade up, "Let the waves be my shield, let the thunder be my blade, Sogyo no Kotowari!" Suddenly he held two swords joined by a long rope, each with a second blade pointing towards the tsuba jutting out from the back of the blade.

Almost in slow motion he saw the ones called Menis and Aldegor disappear as a glow built up from Patros' still sheathed zanpakuto. The blue haired Arrancar drew his zanpakuto swiftly, a yellow blade of reiatsu sliding off of the blade and heading towards him before the zanpakuto was quickly sheathed.

As the blade of reiatsu raced towards him the other Arrancar appeared on either side of him, racing towards him to catch him in a tri-pronged attack.

Using the right blade, Ukitake quickly parried an attack from the effeminate Menis, hooking the backward facing prong of his zanpakuto into the other's sleeve and dragging him in front of the blast, at the same time, his left blade flew towards Aldegor's head, forcing the dark haired Arrancar to abandon his charge and block the heavy blow.

Ukitake used shunpo to quick escape the blast radius of Patros's attack as it hit his companion.

He watched carefully as the smoke cleared and the two weaker Arrancar became visible. Menis looked murderous at the ease in which the Shinigami had evaded their attacks, while Aldegor simply brushed himself off.

"You're lucky that was only a level one strike Menis" Patros sneered disdainfully.

"A lot of good it did anyway Patros, it wouldn't have hit him anyway." The smaller Arrancar retorted.

"That doesn't matter Menis," Aldegor scolded, "This Shinigami is stronger than we expected."

"Aa, let's just take him down."

"Get them, Jabali!" Aldegor called, his entire body glowing.

Ukitake started, their weapons had appeared to be zanpakuto, and that definitely sounded like a release command, this was bad.

"Stab, Eri…." Menis' own command was cut short as Ukitake quickly darted in, his zanpakuto quickly decapitating the overconfident Arrancar.

He leapt back and away from his remaining opponents, his lungs already aching with the effort of combat. He had been lucky with that strike, too early and his opponent could have dodged it, too late and the power behind the release would have likely stopped the blow.

Patros stared in shock at the quick and unexpected attack; the Shinigami was stronger than he had thought, and he knew that Aldegor was thinking along the same lines as he was.

Taking advantage of the Shinigami's own shock at Aldegor's resurrección, Patros gripped his zanpakuto and stated in a clear voice "pollute, Jerifalté"

Ukitake could only stare at his opponents' released form. Both Arrancar were covered in bone-like armour. The dark-haired Arrancar had six appendages with hinge-like joints coming out of the back of his armoured torso, while Patros had a more complete mask and strange looking arms jutting out to either side of his body.

"What…what is this?" Ukitake whispered, his eyes wide.

"This is what happens when an Arrancar releases his zanpakuto," Patros explained triumphantly, "our zanpakuto is the sealed form of our abilities as a Hollow, and releasing them returns these powers to us."

With that, his right arm opened up quickly in much the same way as the drawing of a sword, sending a blast towards Ukitake much more powerful than the first.

Ukitake quickly moved out of the way, heading towards the multiple limbed form of Aldegor. He was hoping to take out the weaker Arrancar as quick as possible, but his strike was stopped as the six hinged plates moved in front of his target, easily stopping the blow.

As the ground compacted underneath the strength of the blow, all of the components of the shield flicked open, sending Ukitake into the path of another of Patros' blasts. Ukitake felt the reiatsu blade slice through his clothing and hit his side, its strength being just enough to cut a shallow wound along his ribs.

Flipping over, he righted himself, his twin zanpakuto spread out in front of him. A drop of water slid down the blade of his left sword, hitting the ground quietly, a second drop quickly following it.

Neither Arrancar noticed that, but when the sword in his right hand let of a small spark they both realised something was happening.

A small voice echoed throughout the suddenly quiet street, coming from the earpiece Ukitake was wearing.

"13th Division taicho Ukitake Jushiro, you have permission for limit release"

"Limit release?" the two Arrancar said questioningly.

"When a fukutaicho or higher ranked Shinigami goes into the material world, about eighty percent of their power is sealed within a small mark, like this," Ukitake pulled aside his kimono to reveal a small flower marking on the left side of his chest, "and when that Shinigami says the phrase 'limit release', their powers are restored to them."

Both Arrancars' eyes widened as the small mark lit up, the drips of water on the left sword turning into a whirling vortex around the blade, and sparks shot rapidly off of the right hand blade.

With a sweep of his left hand water shot off the blade and spun around the Arrancar, quickly wrapping around them and slamming them into each other. Ukitake slowly raised his right hand, the blade sparking rapidly, and quickly slashed downwards, sending a bolt of electricity towards the two Arrancar.

Too stunned to move, the bolt hit them dead on, quickly burning through their entire body.

Ukitake allowed the dual elements to die down as two scorched bodies hit the ground, almost unrecognisable.

He sent his senses out to see what sort of opponents were left, he was surprised to see that most of the tainted reiatsu was gone, particularly the huge concentration in the centre.

With a sigh he allowed his shikai to drop, sheathing his sealed zanpakuto in a single motion.

"Ukitake-taicho!"

"Ukitake-san!"

Ukitake turned around to see his favourite unseated officer and the substitute Shinigami running towards him.

"Kuchiki, Kurosaki." He acknowledged with a nod, "How are things out there?"

"We seem to be mopping them up rather quickly Ukitake-taicho; they stopped co-operating a little while ago, and have even started fighting amongst themselves." Rukia replied, her entire posture rigid in the face of her Captain

"What about you Ukitake-san? We felt your reiatsu spike a moment ago." Ichigo queried.

"I had to deal with some Arrancar," Ukitake responded, "They attacked me at…" he started to cough harshly, blood pouring out of his mouth.

The two Shinigami let out shocked noises as Ukitake began to fall, his descent to the ground halted as a smaller white-haired figure caught his larger frame.

"Hitsugaya-taicho!"

"Toshiro!"

"It's Hitsugaya-taicho to you," the young captain stated, glaring at Ichigo, "not Toshiro!"

"Hitsugaya-kun, are you all right?" Ukitake asked, concerned for his fellow captain.

"I should be asking you that question Ukitake-taicho; after all, I'm not the one bleeding." Hitsugaya responded evenly.

"I'll be fine, I just need to rest." The older captain assured.

"Ukitake-taicho, you're lucky that you lasted as long as you did sir! You shouldn't have come." Rukia scolded, her concern for her commanding officer overriding her sense of proprietary.

"Well, I had to come," Ukitake began, trying to pull off an innocent expression.

"Why?" Hitsugaya asked abruptly.

"Ah, well, the thing is…" he broke off into embarrassed laughter, which quickly turned back into hacking coughs.

Ichigo watched as the two other Shinigami quickly tended to the sickly taicho, his mind focused on two things, pushing his inner Hollow down, and the feeling of strange reiatsu emanating from a nearby area. The reiatsu similar, yet different to an Arrancar.

The reiatsu of Vizards.

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Ichimaru looked out from the hill he was standing on with great amusement; he could feel Ulquiorra and the Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jeagerjacques walk up behind him.

"The preparations are complete Ichimaru-sama, we are ready now" Ulquiorra reported blandly.

"Lets do this already, I'm bored." Grimmjow complained.

Ichimaru turned towards the two Espada, looking past them to see a few weaker Arrancar standing in front of an army of Hollows at least equal to that sent into the material world.

"Well then, lets move out" Ichimaru said quietly, turning to look at his destination.

The Seireitei.

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End Chapter 2

**AN**: Thanks for reading! I'm kinda wary about the fight scene; it was the hardest thing I've ever written so I hope it's at least halfway decent.

I was wondering, in the next chapter, who do you want to see Ichimaru and Grimmjow fight with? I'm afraid Ulquiorra's got something he has to do so he won't be fighting.

One last thing, I'm going to run a competition, the winner will get to help me develop the only even slightly important OC in this fic (I will have the final say in this matter, because there are some things already decided) as well as be able to request a oneshot for any of the fandoms posted on my profile. The winner will have complete say in all specifications of this story, pairing, genre etc, the only stipulation is that it will have to be a oneshot.

The runner up will get to request a story as well, with the same stipulations as above.

The rules are simple, I'll ask a few questions about the fic, and at the end the person with the most right answers is the winner. You will have to think about it though; they're not going to be easy.

EDIT: I've added some hints, just because I feel the questions may be too hard

Questions for Chapter One

Hitsugaya mentions that a good friend of his died horribly when he is talking to Ichigo, who is this friend?

HINT: It is a canonical character who makes several appearances in flashbacks in the early part of the anime series, including the Soul Society arc

In the same scene Hitsugaya quotes a line from a poem of the same name, who wrote the poem?

HINT: the line is "We Wear the Mask"

Questions for Chapter Two

What did I base the 10th Division Command centre off of?

HINT: It is from an anime that is a part of my favoured fandoms list (check my profile)

Who did I name the 10th Division 3rd Seat after?

HINT: He is a famous Japanese scholar, considered to be the Japanese equivalent to Sun Tzu (I think)

How many Shinigami are there in a squad?

HINT: I mean in this particular AU, the numbers are in this chapter.

Please, drop me a review, I'd really like to know what people think, it helps me keep going.

Thanks again for reading!


	4. Chapter 3

Here's chapter three, theres only a little bit of Hitsugaya and no real amount of Ichigo, but its still important. I don't particularly like this chapter, so I'd reall appreciate hearing what you think of it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach in any way shape or form, I do not make any money out of the writing of this story.

**Warnings:** AU, Mild Course Language, Hints of KyorakuxUkitake

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As the dawn broke over Karakura town, three captain class Shinigami were comparing notes while seated around a low table within Urahara's shop. Despite his illness, Ukitake managed to be a part of the conversation, propped up by a myriad of pillows and blankets.

"So," Hitsugaya began, his eyes locked solely on his fellow captain, "you're saying that when an Arrancar releases their zanpakuto…"

"Yes, they gain their unique abilities back. While it's the first level of release, I'd say that its effect is more similar to bankai, in terms of pure increase in power anyway." Ukitake clarified, his voice raspy from coughing too long.

"This is the first major encounter with fully realised Arrancar, at least, to my knowledge, so there are going to be some surprises." Urahara said quietly, glancing between the two active Shinigami.

"While their abilities are important, it's their purpose that perturbs me," Hitsugaya stated, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"What do you mean Hitsugaya-taicho?" Urahara asked, his questioning gaze centred directly on the small Shinigami.

Turning to look towards the room where the injured and exhausted lay, Hitsugaya didn't respond for a moment.

"I cannot contact Soul Society, nor can I open a gate…we are cut off; at least for the moment."

The two older men looked at him in shock, "That's why you have my team on patrol," Ukitake said breathily as realisation dawned, "not because you thought they would come back."

"Aa. No point causing a panic after all."

"And you think that this has something to do with the attack?" Urahara asked, a disbelieving look on his face.

"There is no doubt. I approached the Arrancar who led the attack, and his words seemed to imply that this attack was anything but straight forward. He also withdrew from battle…"

"That could have been because we were winning." Urahara interrupted.

"…before Ukitake began to fight with the other Arrancar." Hitsugaya finished, with an irritated look on his face.

"So it could be that Soul Society is under attack now?" Ukitake asked quietly.

"It couldn't be a full scale assault yet, the Hougyoku couldn't have awakened fully yet." Urahara said with certainty.

"Perhaps it is to destabilise our forces, throw us off guard. Perhaps they're doing nothing more than blocking communication and travel and we're overreacting." Hitsugaya said blankly.

"That certainly is true," Urahara agreed as he slowly stood up, "there's no point in either of you concerning yourselves with Soul Society, there's nothing you can do for the time being. I will begin seeing to this barrier, and I'll let you know when I find something."

The two white haired captains nodded to him as he walked off, muttering to himself quietly.

"You should rest Ukitake-taicho, it's been a long day, especially considering your condition" Hitsugaya stated as he too began to get up.

"I have one last question Hitsugaya-taicho." Ukitake said, pausing to cough before continuing, "Where did Kurosaki Ichigo go?"

Turning away from the inquiring brown eyes Hitsugaya replied, "I don't know."

The substitute Shinigami had left after most of the Hollows had been taken out, claiming that he had something he needed to do.

Everyone had been to busy to pay much attention to it at the time, so nobody actually knew where he had gone to.

"Kurosaki has been having some issues after he was defeated by the first group of fully realised Arrancar to enter this plane. Perhaps this battle has brought back his warrior's instinct, and he has gone somewhere to train." Hitsugaya mused aloud, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"Perhaps you are right Hitsugaya-taicho," Ukitake responded, before his expression turned from a serious one to a playful one, "by the way, have some of my sherbet lemons, they're really good.

Hitsugaya edged away from the packet that was suddenly shoved under his nose, ready to make a quick escape before the dreaded tradition of being given all manner of confectionary began.

"No thank you Ukitake-taicho." He said politely, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do."

Ukitake watched as his young peer left rather quickly, a smile on his face, "I'll get you one day Hitsugaya Toshiro, I'll find what it is that you can't resist, and then you won't know what hit you."

Slowly getting up, the ancient Shinigami made his way to the futon Urahara had set up for him. Despite his ability to move now, Ukitake was well aware that once the lingering reiatsu wore off, he wouldn't leave his bed for a full day at the least.

He fell asleep with concerns for Soul Society dancing through his mind.

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Hirako Shinji was not was not what you would expect for a leader figure, especially for the leader of some of the most powerful beings in existence. He had a dorky haircut and acted like a lazy teenager most of the time. But then, he had to, to deal with…things…that had occurred. The series of events that ended in him becoming a Vizard were not exactly pleasant.

That's why he would help Kurosaki without the boy's allegiance, and that's why he went to the trouble of picking him up after that excessive use of force Aizen Sosuke had dreamed up.

After all, is it not better to be perceived as something you are not when it works to your advantage?

Looking around at the other Vizards, Shinji knew that this could be the time where he was required to drop that act, for their sake, and become the man he had once been.

Kurosaki…he was their key, the being that would tread between Vizard and Shinigami just because he wanted to. Looking to where the boy was fighting to control his inner Hollow, Shinji could only hope that his will was strong enough to succeed.

"Oi, Shinji!"

He looked up to see Hiyori walk up and flop down beside him, "What?" he asked playfully, "Your not gonna hit me again are ya?"

"Why are we doing this?" She asked, with no sign of her usual attitude.

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked, his usually playful attitude gone in the face of her seriousness.

"Why are we helping this idiot when he specifically said he wasn't going to join us?" She clarified.

"It's simple really; I think that he will benefit us even if he doesn't join. After all, regardless of what he wants, he is a Vizard, like us, so in the end our best interests will be his too." Shinji said, a smirk present as he turned to see her reaction

"That's dangerous baka" Hiyori responded lowly.

"Huh?"

"Remember what happened last time you placed a lot on your predicting of someone's actions."

"That's true," Shinji said somewhat regretfully, "So I'm going to have to be more careful this time, that's all."

Hiyori gave him a disapproving look as he got up and walked over to the barrier containing Ichigo.

For such a powerful man he sure was an idiot.

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The trouble with having to go through the Rukongai with an army of Hollows is trying to keep them under control. Many of them wanted to just run wild, eating as many Souls as they could find.

The smarter ones had wised up quickly when Ichimaru personally executed those who hadn't followed orders, the stupider ones…well…let's just say he didn't mind thinning the herd just a little bit.

It was difficult, but it was done, and Ichimaru couldn't help but chuckle with glee as he stared at the very nervous Gatekeeper Jidanbo.

"I…Ichimaru Gin!" the giant exclaimed, his entire body taut with fear, "You cannot pass!"

"I can't pass?" Ichimaru repeated with a frown as false as his smile, "Well that's a pity, and here I brought all my friends to come and see the Seireitei" with that he waved at the army of Hollows behind him negligently.

Jidanbo's eyes darted from Ichimaru to Grimmjow and to the army of Hollows spread out before him nervously.

"I can't let you past, it would…" The Gatekeeper keeled over as Ichimaru slowly resheathed Shinso and walked towards the gate.

"I think you'll need to get some of the larger Hollows up here Grimmjow, they should be able to open the gate, ne?"

While it came as a suggestion, Grimmjow knew that the Shinigami was giving him an order, and the Sexta Espada did not want to mess with Aizen's second in command.

Ichimaru just stood there smiling at the gate as he waited for the brutes to open it. He could have opened it himself, but, well, his actions were meant to be symbolic, not effective.

The weakest Hollows that Aizen could round up were thrown into this army. They thought they were here to conquer Soul Society, only he and Grimmjow knew that they were here to die.

Grimmjow stalked up to Ichimaru as the two large Hollows he had called for lumbered passed.

"Oi, that gate guy is still breathing ya know?"

"Hmm? Oh well, that's what happens when you don't hit someone hard enough I suppose." Ichimaru said absently as the gate began to shudder.

"You didn't even cut him!" the Espada said, his voice laced with frustration.

"Why would I have done that?" Ichimaru queried innocently, only to chuckle as Grimmjow made a cat-like yowl of irritation.

As the gate opened Ichimaru watched a number of Shinigami forming up in the courtyard, their weapons gleaming in the noon sun.

With a wave of his hand, Ichimaru lead his forces through the gate and into the Seireitei, glancing around to see the place he had left some time ago.

"Ichimaru Gin, for committing High Treason…" the poor Shinigami who had started to speak suddenly stopped as the smiling ex-Taicho turned his focus upon the man.

"Yare yare, you're still here?" he questioned, mostly to himself, "Well, that is a problem."

Ichimaru turned to the Hollows behind him, "You've all been so patient, you can have fun now"

He walked off as the sounds of battle began behind him, Grimmjow walking beside him, "Hmm? That was meant for you too Grimmjow, go have fun."

Grimmjow repressed a snarl as the pale haired man mad a shooing motion, "Who do you recommend?"

Ichimaru cast his senses out, wondering which of his former comrades the Espada could keep tied up for the required time.

"Go that way," Ichimaru gestured, "until you find a Shinigami taicho, there are a couple heading this way, so you better isolate one quickly. Have fun now!"

With that information given he left Grimmjow behind as he began working his way into 10th Division territory, after all, he had a long way to go if he wanted to reach his goal before time ran out.

Strangely enough he encountered next to no resistance during his walk, very few Shinigami actually daring to attack him, and those that did were soon made unable to try again.

9th seemed more populated than 10th, and the 8th division was practically deserted until he reached the very end of their territory.

Ichimaru gave a false frown as he took in the pink haori wearing figure sitting before him, sipping sake from a delicate cup.

"Hello Ichimaru," the long-haired captain of 8th division said calmly.

"Greetings to you Kyoraku-san, such lovely weather you're having here." Ichimaru said waiting to see whether he could make the ancient Shinigami lose his cool.

Kyoraku put down his cup and stood up, brushing the dirt from his favourite haori and straightening his hat.

"As much as I'd love to chit-chat with you, I have to ask you a very important question."

Ichimaru made a questioning noise and signalled for the other man to continue, his smile turning into a faux expression of sympathy.

"What happened to Jushiro?"

"Yare yare, what makes you think I know?" Ichimaru asked innocently, his smile returning to full force

"Don't play stupid with me Ichimaru," Kyoraku threatened, drawing his twin zanpakuto, "We haven't been able to contact the material world, and I know Aizen has something to do with it, so you're going to tell me what you know."

"Oh no!" Ichimaru mocked, "Whatever shall I do?"

Kyoraku moved slightly as the traitorous taicho of the 3rd Division drew his own zanpakuto, that damnable smile never leaving his face.

"How about I tell you what happened, but only if you beat me?" Ichimaru stated smugly.

Kyouraku prepared himself to charge at his former comrade, needing to know that his best friend was safe.

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Grimmjow looked on in shock as a figure materialised itself before him, coming out of the wall.

As the figure brushed its camouflage off, the blue haired Arrancar could only think that this Shinigami looked freakier than a good deal of the beings in Hueco Mundo, in fact, it could probably pass for a Hollow.

"Hmm, yes, very good, an excellent specimen" the Shinigami said to himself as he examined Grimmjow, and a shiver ran down his spine. The look in its eyes reminded him too much of Szayelapporo, and that was not a good thing.

"Who the hell are you?" Grimmjow demanded.

"Hmm? I am Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Taicho of 12th division, how would you like to be one of my test subjects?"

Test subjects? The very phrase made Grimmjow shudder, being around two experiment happy maniacs with no conscience definitely made him wary of the thought of being a test subject.

Obviously Kurotsuchi thought that Grimmjow's silence meant he was considering it, because he added, "I'll even feed you every second day, and I'll try to remember to use anaesthetics" as if it would convince him.

"Hell no!" Grimmjow responded, his eyes blazing with fury, "How 'bout I make you a counter offer, you stand there, and I tear you to shreds."

Kurotsuchi shook his head in despair, making a tutting noise, "Subject refuses to go along quietly. It appears that force will be required to obtain the subject. Nemu!"

Grimmjow felt a presence suddenly appear behind him, trying to grab him; he spun quickly just as it latched onto him.

Just as he flung his elbow back to dislodge his attacker, Grimmjow heard a feminine scream along with the sound of blood hitting the ground, and suddenly he was released. A quick sonido ensured he was out of striking distance.

He watched stunned as a female crumpled to the ground panting while his opponent stood there with blood on his sword, a feral snarl on his clown like face.

"You little idiot, you were simply supposed to hold him still, instead you let yourself get in my way. I'm going to take you apart when this is done you stupid bitch." Kurotsuchi stabbed the new Shinigami in the shoulder to emphasise his point.

"Oi, clown face! Are you sure you're not on my side?" Grimmjow asked smugly, all shock quickly evaporating at the thought of a good fight.

Kurotsuchi turned to face Grimmjow, a snarl still spread across his visage, "shut up, you're just an unruly test subject who needs to be sedated!"

Grimmjow was forced to draw his zanpakuto as a strange scythe like weapon was suddenly thrown at him, attached to Kurotsuchi by a length of muscle that came from his ear.

Several more strikes came at him in rapid succession, but only one managed to break through his guard and cut his left arm open.

Grimmjow waited for more strikes but Kurotsuchi folded up the blade and reformed his ear, a smirk now spread across his face.

"What's so funny?" Grimmjow snarled, his vision suddenly wavering slightly.

As he collapsed to one knee Kurotsuchi took a few steps forward, ignoring Nemu's whimpers of pain.

"After my encounter with the Bount I thought it would be prudent to coat all my weapons with various toxins. The one you've been affected by should put you into a short coma, of course, I've not tested it on an Arrancar yet, so it may not be as effective as it is for a regular Hollow."

"Go to hell!" Grimmjow ground out. His whole body felt fuzzy and his head felt overly heavy but he still managed to glare up at Kurotsuchi, however the effect was ruined by his glazed over eyes, "I'm not just any Arrancar, I'm the Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jeagerjacques!"

Kurotsuchi let out a startled grunt as Grimmjow sliced upwards faster than he should have been able to with the poison coursing through his veins.

A dull thud momentarily drowned out Nemu's pained gasps as Kurotsuchi's left arm fell to the ground beside him.

Kurotsuchi leapt back to avoid any further attacks as Grimmjow managed to overcome his vertigo and rise to his feet.

"Hmm, very interesting, an Espada you say?" Kurotsuchi questioned, unconcerned at the loss of his arm, "Well then, I simply must bring you back alive, you're far too valuable to be merely dissected."

Grimmjow brought his zanpakuto up into a guard position shakily, his arms already exhausted from the poison still working its way through his body, "You won't be taking me anywhere; I'll tear you to shreds!"

Kurotsuchi chuckled evilly as he withdrew a syringe from his shihakshou and plunged it into his left shoulder, distributing its contents into his body, "Why is it always the left arm? They always get that arm." He mused to himself as his previously amputated appendage regrew from the stump that had remained attached to his body.

As the Shinigami taicho stretched out his new limb Grimmjow was able to bring his vision back into focus, the poison was obviously receding from his body, the physiology of an Espada level Arrancar rapidly nullifying the effects of a poison that could drop a Menos Grande.

"Hmm, if that poison doesn't work then I guess I have no choice, I should have used it first, but I suppose my need to test my newest substance was more important. No matter," Kurotsuchi said in a sickening tone as he held his zanpakuto in one hand point down in front of his face, "Scratch out, Ashisogi Jizo!"

Grimmjow snarled and his eyes narrowed, he wasn't Ulquiorra, he had no idea what the taicho of the 12th Division could do with his released zanpakuto, and with his body slowed down from the poison he couldn't take his normal approach to fighting, that is, pummelling his opponent into submission.

With his hand behind his back he powered up a cero, hoping to hide his intentions to the Shinigami who eerily resembled Szayelapporo Granz. As Kurotsuchi moved towards him in a quick shunpo, Grimmjow used sonido to get behind the taicho unleashing his charged cero at near point blank range.

Unfortunately his body was still recovering from the crazy Shinigami's poison, and his cero merely sheared through the man's haori as he flipped over the attack.

"You're not a very well behaved specimen are you?" Kurotsuchi asked rhetorically as he prepared to attack once more, "that is something we shall have to remedy."

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Ichimaru twirled away as a blade of wind came flying towards him, slicing into the wall behind him with ease.

"My, you do seem serious today Kyoraku-san, whatever could make you of all people release your zanpakuto so quickly?" Ichimaru asked mockingly as he dodged another blade of air aimed at his legs.

"What happened to Jushiro? Tell me Ichimaru or I will make you suffer things even Kurotsuchi could not dream up!" Kyoraku yelled, his normally calm attitude discarded in his worry for his sickly companion.

He knew that allowing Jushiro to go wasn't a good idea but the other man had insisted and the rest of the captains had agreed, even Yama-jii didn't try to stop him. When Kyoraku had approached Ukitake the white haired man had simply said 'this is a battle for pride and for life, I will not back down' and that was that, let it not be said that Kyoraku Shunsui was a man who ignored the beliefs of his partner.

Ichimaru responded to the emotional questioning by extending Shinso and slicing at Kyoraku several times in rapid succession, causing him to take several steps back in order to avoid the ever expanding reach of his opponent's zanpakuto.

"You haven't given me enough of a fight to be given such delectable information yet Kyoraku-san" Ichimaru replied.

"You're not going to get much of a fight here Ichimaru, there are still seven other captains here, I'm sure any number of them would like to capture you. Not to mention the vice-captains" Kyoraku growled out.

Ichimaru just laughed, much to Kyoraku's annoyance, "I'm sure that they would come to help you Kyoraku-san, but they are all tied down by the Arrancar I brought with me, at least for the moment."

"Those Arrancar are too weak to hold them down for long, I could only sense two presences amongst your group that could tie up a taicho for any significant amount of time, you and the one Kurotsuchi has got a hold of, and that one seems to be fluctuating wildly" Kyoraku responded, his eyes smouldering with anger.

"I don't need them to be held up for any significant amount of time," Ichimaru replied, "By the time those Arrancar are dead your comrades will be busy protecting the civilian population from the army of Hollows I brought, after all, they are heading for them as we speak."

Kyoraku cursed, he was in a terrible position, his worry for his lover and his morals warred for a moment. He wanted to know what had befallen his lifelong companion, but he couldn't allow innocents to be hurt, and Ichimaru knew that.

"Two minutes," He began. Ichimaru released a questioning 'hmm' and Kyoraku continued, "I'll have you talking in two minutes"

"Really? That will be an impressive feat; I look forward to seeing you try" Ichimaru taunted, his ever irritating grin fixed in place.

Kyoraku brandished his twin zanpakuto menacingly for a moment before making a series of slices, causing blades of air to slide from their tips, heading straight toward Ichimaru.

Ichimaru shunpo'ed away from the attacks only to be forced to catch one of Kyoraku's scimitar like blades with Shinso and flip over him to avoid getting the other in his stomach.

Back and forth the two powerful Shinigami traded blows, both of them preferring to fight at long range due to the abilities of their zanpakuto. Slashes, blasts of air and various hado were exchanged, each attack being masterfully countered by the other.

Kyoraku grunted as he blocked a diagonal cut from Ichimaru with his left blade and sent a spiral of wind at his opponent with the other. His self appointed time was nearly up and he knew now that there was no way that he would be able to defeat the traitor in the time he had left. The tainted reiatsu of Hollows had not diminished much since he had begun his fight; it seemed that the other high ranking Shinigami had decided not to waste reryuku and thus had not defeated the weak Arrancar that had come along.

"Times up Kyoraku-san, and you haven't beaten me," Ichimaru said sadistically, "Guess I'll take my leave seeing as you've got to go be a hero and all."

Kyoraku was torn as he watched Ichimaru sheath his zanpakuto and began walking away. On one hand, he didn't know what sort of damage the traitor could do, on the other, defenceless souls were being attacked.

In the end his years of being a Shinigami won and he turned to leave in the direction of the residential areas only to be stopped by the sound of Ichimaru's voice once more.

"Oh, by the way, to my knowledge Ukitake-san is perfectly fine at the moment, the only reason you can't contact him is because we blocked all communication between the two dimensions." Ichimaru turned to face Kyoraku with a cruel look on his face, "of course, this was just a test run. I'll just let you wonder at what else we have up our sleeves."

Kyoraku felt relief well up inside him as Ichimaru walked away, only to have it replaced with dread once more. Ichimaru was a perfect liar, was he telling the truth or was he lying through his fox-like grin.

It was with a heavy heart that Kyoraku quickly left to protect the civilians from the foul spirits that assailed them.

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While the other divisions were in the outer ring of the seireitei trying to hold off the invading Hollows, Kira Izuru, at the head of the 3rd and 5th divisions, guarded the innermost ring where the most important buildings of Soul Society stood, the secrets they contained were matters of grave significance, particularly the grand library.

Because of this seemingly demeaning posting, Kira and his subordinates were the only ones who felt a slight spike of reiatsu before it was overwhelmed by a terrifyingly familiar presence.

"Hello Izuru"

The words slithered off of a snakelike tongue that Kira was well acquainted with, and the voice was the one that still haunted his sleep. Unbidden a memory rose, when not so long ago Abarai Renji had reached the rank of fukutaicho and joined his friends in their high ranking positions.

'_He's my taicho, you give everything to your taicho'_ he had said when Renji had asked how he put up with that man.

"Ichimaru Gin" Kira stated tonelessly, trying to keep his raging emotions from his former taicho, "you are a traitor to Soul Society, surrender yourself or I will use force to make you submit"

Despite the harsh words Ichimaru's grin never faltered for a second, "Didn't you miss me Izuru?" Ichimaru questioned teasingly.

"No!" Kira exclaimed a little too quickly as he drew his zanpakuto, prompting the other Shinigami behind him to do the same.

"I'm hurt, here, in my heart" Ichimaru said sadly, his right hand pressed to his chest.

"You don't have a heart!" Kira exclaimed, his emotions quickly overtaking reason.

Ichimaru took a step back at the proclamation, his usual smile gone for a brief moment, "That was uncalled for Izuru; I didn't think you could be so cruel."

"I learnt from the best, traitor!" the blond fukutaicho spat.

The other Shinigami just stood there in shock as their usually timid fukutaicho stood up to their creepy former taicho.

"That isn't very nice." Ichimaru remarked blandly, his smile slowly returning to its normal, infuriating size.

"Nice?" Kira breathed in disbelief, "Nice? What is nice about what you've done, you lied to the entire Soul Society, you lied to me!"

Ichimaru shook his head sadly while making a tutting noise, "Poor little Izuru, since when have I ever claimed to be truthful?"

Kira just stared at him in disbelief; he couldn't believe it, he was right, never once had Ichimaru hidden the fact that he enjoyed twisting the truth. The only thing he had ever been truthful about the whole time Kira had known him was that he was never completely truthful about anything.

Tired of this interruption, he was on a tight schedule after all, Ichimaru began to flare his reiatsu, the pressure of his spirit bearing down upon the weaker Shinigami like gravity.

Soon only Kira was conscious under the vast energy Ichimaru was releasing, his eyes blank as he stared at his former idol.

"Why?" he whispered just before he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Ichimaru just stared at him, face in its usual mask, as he felt the signal touch his perceptions.

As a garganta opened once more in the skies of Soul Society, and three negacion fields descended on their targets, he watched. As he was lifted up into the sky he let out a small laugh.

"You wouldn't understand at all Izuru-kun"

oOo

Grimmjow was getting real pissed at this Shinigami, now that he had full control of his body again the freak hadn't been able to touch him, but enough was enough.

Holding his zanpakuto out in front of him, Grimmjow prepared to use his resureccion, when the yellow light of a negacion field enveloped him.

Both combatants let out a stream of curses as they realised their fight was ended through means outside of their control.

Time was up, mission complete.

oOo

Ulquiorra looked down at the Seireitei through the yellow light of the Menoses with detachment, his mission was complete, he had done exactly as Aizen-sama had requested, and the Shinigami would never know the true purpose of these obviously pointless large scale attacks.

Ulquiorra smiled.

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Hope you liked it, please, drop me a review, let me know what you think.

**Annoying serious moment**

I'm not going to hold the fic hostage to get more reviews, those people who have reviewed don't deserve it, but I was disappointed with the number I got for the last chapter. Even if there was something you didn't like, I want to know, it will only make my writing better...that doesn't mean you can flame me though.

**end annoying serious moment**

Competition

For those who read the authors note at the end of the last chapter, you'll know I'm having a little competition, If you didn't, check it out, its interesting.

In the next chapter I'll answer the questions for Chapter One, so if no one answers them by then, they'll no longer be viable questions.

This chapters questions are...

1. This chapter was pretty much one big brawl, so where the heck was Kenpachi? (Double points for specifics)

2. What running gag from the anime series was implimented in this chapter?

(This next one's not really serious, but you'll get points if you get it right)

3. What confectionary is the weakness of Hitsugaya that Ukitake is looking for?

Thanks again for reading my fic, I hoped you liked it!


	5. Chapter 4

AN: I'm really sorry this is so late, while I don't want to make excuses, the dreaded writer's block kicked in

**AN: **I'm really sorry this is so late, while I don't want to make excuses, the dreaded writer's block kicked in. I can safely say that I absolutely hate this chapter, nothing came to me, the scenes don't flow, and I had to reorder it and rewrite bits over and over again. Honestly, could you tell me what you think of this chapter, because I need to know what went wrong with it.

Ok, the rest of my rant can wait, here comes the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, I never have, and I never will. I do not make any money from this.

Warnings: Coarse Language, Violence, mentions of yaoi, and some other stuff that I can't really think of at the moment. Oh, and a big AN at the end.

Currently Unbeta'd

Chapter 4

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The Seireitei was in a state of extreme disorder, of course an army of Hollows had just recently gone on a rampage throughout Soul Society. Even now there were isolated pockets of resistance, but without the high ranked individuals that had led them; they were of no more consequence than any routine Hollow attack in the material world.

Every division was working to stabilise the situation, in the 4th division buildings the wounded were tended to; 3rd and 5th divisions, having been kept out of the action, were aiding 11th division in clearing out the remaining Hollows; 9th division in conjunction with 12th division were working to restore communication and gate travel to and from the material plane. 10th division was silently gathering data and analysing information under the watch of their 3rd seat.

Of all the tasks, the supreme ruler of the Soul Society, Yamamoto-sotaicho, was most concerned about the restoration of communication to the material world. He needed to know the situation concerning both Hitsugaya and Ukitake's teams.

He sighed tiredly as he began reading the reports that had already began filtering in from the various divisions, he had never felt older in his millennia of existence than he did right now.

Necessity had placed the mantles of both sotaicho and the Central 46 upon his aged shoulders, and while he was comfortable with one, the other was an unwanted burden.

Any organisation generated large amounts of paperwork, as Yamamoto was currently serving as the head of two of Soul Society's governmental branches he had double the amount of work to do, and so his entire division took on much of the tasks that would have been the responsibility of the members of Central 46.

He needed his two absent subordinates, he admitted to himself as he read through another necessary but tedious document, more than he needed most of the ones still in Soul Society.

Hitsugaya would probably already have some idea of the reasoning behind the otherwise illogical assaults on both this plane and the material one.

Yamamoto didn't know half of the things that 10th division did, a relief really, because he already had too much to deal with as it was, but the master of Hyorinmaru always seemed to have some idea of the goings on around him.

Then again…Aizen had somehow managed to get past the young tensai, perhaps he could have once again outsmarted Hitsugaya. Regardless, he needed to be able to contact them.

As for Jushiro, one of his greatest pupils, he regretted allowing him to lead the relief team. Though sick in body, he was sharp in mind, and would be a great help in figuring out just what was going on

"I brought you some tea taicho."

Yamamoto looked up at the form of one of his oldest friends; his loyal fukutaicho had been with him since before he had reached the rank of Sotaicho, Sasakibe Chojiro.

He murmured gratefully as the distinguished looking man handed him the boiling cup, his friend ensuring that the cup was in his grip for the smallest amount of time before it passed hands.

"It's just how you like it," Sasakibe remarked as he put down the tray he had been carrying, "one degree below becoming steam."

Yamamoto let out a pleased sigh as he sipped at the brutally hot tea, the drink hotter than any normal being could stand, but then, most normal beings didn't have to learn to control the most powerful fire element zanpakuto to have existed.

A light chuckle sounded within the depths of his ancient mind, _'flattery will get you everywhere old friend'_ the musical tones of his oldest companion lifting his spirits immensely.

'_Have you enjoyed your sleep? It has been a while since you last talked to me.'_ Yamamoto questioned.

'_We talked when you decided that your brats required a spanking Shigekuni, you interrupted my sleep, remember?'_ Ryujin Jakka stated, a little put off at the memory.

'_You must be getting old my friend; you're sleeping for decades at a time'_ Yamamoto began, only to be interrupted as has fukutaicho picked up the cane that contained his sealed zanpakuto and poked him with it.

"What are you doing Chojiro?"

"Sorry taicho, I just thought you had fallen asleep again when you didn't respond to what I was talking about." Sasakibe said unapologetically, he knew how far he could get around the most powerful man in Soul Society, and it was further than most.

"Please continue" Yamamoto said gruffly, all the while the musical laughter of his zanpakuto was ringing through his mind.

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Hitsugaya could feel it, but he couldn't stop it, it was as inevitable as the sun rising. His helplessness ensured that it would continue, a cycle which was unlikely to end anytime soon.

His eyebrow twitched again.

"Aww, taicho you look so adorable in that outfit, you should take it with you when we go back to Soul Society, it's perfect for you." His busty fukutaicho gushed, much to his continuing irritation.

Hitsugaya had purchased several different outfits for his time in the material world, they helped him blend in. This outfit and several others would be placed in a storage facility for when he needed to come back.

"No Matsumoto."

"But…"

"No"

"What about…"

"No"

"Not even…"

"Absolutely not."

Matsumoto just squealed as he scowled at her and unleashed her ultimate weapon, the Dreaded Breasts of Doom™, smothering Hitsugaya…again.

Laughter interrupted the…touching scene, causing Matsumoto to release her taicho, sparing him from a death most men would wish for.

Yoruichi was laughing softly at the antics of the red haired woman, and the disgruntled expression on the face of the young taicho.

Quickly regaining his composure Hitsugaya turned to her, "What's the situation?"

"I haven't seen Kisuke since I went to bed last night, so he's up to something, we lost a couple last night from injuries, but the rest seem to have stabilised. Ukitake is sleeping, which is good, he doesn't seem to have been coughing up blood." Yoruichi responded, though she wasn't part of the Gotei 13 anymore she felt it was right to inform their current ranking officer what was going on.

"Thankyou," Hitsugaya nodded to Yoruichi before turning to his irritating fukutaicho, "Matsumoto, I want you to organise a continued patrol roster for the uninjured members of Ukitake's team, keep them busy."

"Hai Taicho, don't worry about that" Matsumoto said playfully, winking.

"This is important Matsumoto, I know it's paperwork but I really need you to do this, please."

'Damn,' Matsumoto thought as she looked at her adorable little taicho, 'when he asks like that he knows I'll do it, only because he doesn't usually'.

Matsumoto knew that Hitsugaya let her get away with a lot, because he knew that she genuinely couldn't concentrate on paperwork for longer than five minutes, so he saved that ploy for when he really needed her to do something.

With widened eyes and a small voice that made him seem even younger, Matsumoto knew she couldn't deny him anything. It was worse than the scowls and yelling.

Hitsugaya turned and walked out of the room, only allowing the smirk to appear on his face once he left the room, Yoruichi's laughter covering the sound of the door closing.

It was embarrassing that there was someone else there, but it was necessary. His hardest act was the only thing that could get Matsumoto to do paperwork. It took all his skill to seem like a small child, mainly because he hated that depiction of him with a burning passion.

The smirk faded as he walked down the road, replaced by a full body shudder. Even if she had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker, that particular act made him feel…dirty.

Adjusting his cap, Hitsugaya walked off once more, he had places to go and people to meet with.

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For some reason the universe favoured symmetry, even if it was extremely obscure and near impossible to understand, at least, that was how one particular Espada saw it as he surveyed the meeting room with half opened eyes.

There were thirteen members of Aizen's ruling group, ten Espada and three ex-Shinigami. This directly opposed the thirteen leaders of the Gotei 13, but then, they were short three of their number, so maybe the chaos was simply a lack of balance.

Stark yawned widely and stretched, disturbing the bickering between Grimmjow and Ulquiorra with a series of pops and cracks. Bah, he was thinking philosophically again, that seemed to happen more frequently as his time as an Arrancar continued.

"Is there something you would like to add Stark?" Aizen asked from his place at the head of the table, peering at the dark haired Espada over his tea cup.

Stark yawned again, "Look, Ulquiorra believes the brat's going to off himself, so why should we waste our time unnecessarily when he shouldn't be a problem." He said sleepily.

"And you're just gonna believe what he says?" Grimmjow questioned, "Now we're finished with these assaults we should take out this kid before he becomes a real problem. It'd be easy."

"Wait, isn't this sort of thing Ulquiorra's specialty?" Yami questioned, the big Espada looking very confused, "Why shouldn't we trust what he says?"

"Look, this Shinigami is a threat, regardless of what he says, and…"

"Enough." Aizen commanded, interrupting Grimjow's rant before it could pick up speed, "Whether or not Kurosaki Ichigo is a threat is irrelevant. His powers are obviously not completely under his control, and shouldn't be by the time we are ready to begin. I would prefer that you leave him be for the moment, focus on preparations."

Stark noticed that Aizen hadn't out right forbidden anyone from going after Kurosaki, and it seemed that Grimmjow hadn't missed that either, if the look on his face was anything to go by.

"What about those assaults?" Nnoitra asked as he leaned back in his seat, "Are we keeping those things up?"

"No." Aizen responded simply, "they served their purpose, now we'll let Soul Society stew a little."

"Just what was **their purpose**?" asked the dual voices of Aaroniero curiously. All of the other Espada turned to their leader, even Tosen and Ichimaru wanted to hear the answer to that.

Stark just leaned back and slumped in his chair, "He didn't tell us before, why would he now?" he asked to no one in particular.

Aizen glanced at Stark for a moment before responding, "I'm afraid I can't tell you. Just know that it was necessary to further our goals."

The others, minus the ever stoic Ulquiorra, all showed some signs of disappointment or irritation at being kept in the dark.

Stark yawned loudly, "is there anything else Aizen-san?"

"No, nothing else, you may all go. Oh, and before I forget Szayelapporo, I want you to deactivate the device, the testing phase is over and we don't want anyone locking onto it before we can use it."

Stark just ignored the rest of that conversation as he left the meeting room, there was a pile of cushions with his name on it and he didn't want to keep it waiting.

After all, it's tiring to be at the top.

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Urahara Kisuke was well known as a genius, he was the man whose outrageous thought patterns had created the Hougyoku, as well as numerous lesser, but no less impressive, devices that were in standard use throughout the spirit and material realms.

But for all his genius he had to admit, he was stumped. Whoever had come up with this dimensional barrier had done it in a way that made it near impossible to tear apart.

It used a three point emitter system that scrambled up spirit particles in the severed world, meaning that the various tunnels that go through that half realm became increasingly unstable, collapsing after perhaps half an hour.

If he had to guess, Urahara would say that Aizen's followers would be able to establish a tunnel using a secondary device which followed the random pattern and neutralised it, thus creating a stable gateway.

The problem was that the pattern this field used was so random and changed so frequently that his chances of neutralising it were slim to none.

The only real option was to destroy the field emitters, and after a full day of non-stop research, he was able to pinpoint roughly where the emitters had been placed and it wasn't good.

One in the material plane, somewhere on the outskirts of Karakura, one in Soul Society, at the very fringe of the Rukongai, and one somewhere within Hueco Mundo. Three separate emitters in the three planes most connected to the severed world meant that it caused a greater level of instability, as well as making any chance of completely destroying the field unlikely at best.

Maybe…if he could get the one in this plane shut down, the distortion of the severed world would be lessened enough for him to stabilise a small path and send a message to Soul Society. Then they could destroy the emitter on their end which would greatly increase the realm's stability.

Of course, that could have a myriad of side effects in and of itself, he wouldn't know until he had checked the device, and even then it was a touch and go situation.

Urahara sighed just as the door behind him opened, revealing a tray covered in food held within the delicate looking hands of the Goddess of Flash.

"I haven't seen you like this in some time Kisuke, is it really that bad?" the dark skinned woman asked.

"It's not simple Yoruichi; whoever came up with it is very clever. The safest situation would be if they brought it down themselves, and that's not going to…wait, I think I have it." Urahara suddenly brightened.

Yoruichi crossed her arms and looked at her long time friend, waiting. When he got like this he would only tell you in his own time, there was no point demanding anything.

"Something like this needs a power source, and a test run. This field has been up for at least twenty four hours now, and the amount of energy needed…well, I can't think of any power supply less than plugging in a taicho class spirit that would power it for much longer than that." Urahara said hurriedly as he began writing at a rapid pace in a notebook in front of him.

"So…what you're saying is that it should run out on its own?" Yoruichi queried, eyebrow raised.

"Maybe, or maybe they'll take it down soon so that it conserves energy, or…" he trailed off as he began writing faster, ideas streaming from his brain directly onto paper.

Yoruichi could only smile wryly as she placed the tray on the desk and pressed a cup of tea into his free hand before leaving him to his work.

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Hitsugaya stared at the figure across from him calmly, his teal eyes giving away no emotion, his face carefully blank.

"So this is where you went?" He asked casually, tilting his cap down to hide his eyes.

The figure ran a hand down its chin in thought, "Aa, it's been nice."

"You know, there were some suspicions when he appeared amongst our midst, the older captains couldn't shake this feeling of Déjà vu. It was clever of you, taking that name; it made you harder to track down." Hitsugaya stated calmly, his piercing eyes never wavering as he stared at the powerful being before him.

"I'm not surprised that you were the one to find me, after all, you head Gotei 13 Intelligence, not an easy task by anyone's account," came the other's reply.

"Lately I haven't had to do much of that, with our current situation I have had to turn most of those tasks over to my third seat."

"Third Seat? What about your fukutaicho?"

"She's in charge of the main group; information gathering is not her strong suit." Hitsugaya responded, surprised that he had allowed a bit of his exasperation to colour his voice.

"That doesn't surprise me much," his companion said, laughing to himself.

"I have a question to ask you taicho." Hitsugaya ventured quietly as he looked out over the city from the room's main window.

"I'm not a taicho anymore, you know that."

"You still deserve the respect that follows that title."

The other put his hands up jokingly, "if you say so Hitsugaya-taicho, ask away."

Hitsugaya glared at the man, "do you know what he is?"

"Of course."

"What is your opinion?"

"It could be beneficial; with his help we may be able to sway the others to our side, a tentative truce perhaps."

"From what I've gathered they aren't the most reasonable people when Shinigami are involved" Hitsugaya responded as he took off his cap and ran a hand through his hair.

"That's certainly true," the other man began, "But they would have no love for Aizen either, so they're more likely to help us than hinder us, at least until the slimy bastard is dead."

Hitsugaya didn't say anything for a moment, surprised at the sudden surge of hatred and bitterness that flowed through him at the thought of Aizen. Normally he would be able to contain those emotions easily; after all, it was a necessary skill for information gathering.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm sorry, it's nothing" Hitsugaya responded curtly.

"Ah, I know that look, let me guess, you got a sudden inexplicable urge to punch something, right?"

"That's none of your business, focus on the matter at hand!" he was angry, and for some reason he couldn't keep it under control.

"My, what a temper, maybe you should…"

"Please, I'm not in the mood for this, can we get on with whatever else you need, I have other things to do."

The other man looked at Hitsugaya carefully; the young man had so much resting on his shoulders at the moment, the stress of Aizen on top of his usual duties, had to be eating away at him, even if the prodigy did not know it yet.

"There's not much else, we'll keep in touch in the usual way, keep me updated."

"Aa, until next time, Kurosaki-taicho."

Hitsugaya couldn't help but smirk at the bearded man's spluttering as he left the room, changing from the emotionless former head of Intelligence to the clown he usually portrayed.

Despite his irritation, the meeting had gone well, he had the help of his predecessor, and that was a very valuable thing considering the man had just up and disappeared about twenty years ago.

His next meeting however, was not likely to go over so well, he hadn't seen the man in over two decades, and he wasn't naïve enough to think that his feelings had changed in any way.

This was not going to be a pleasant reunion.

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"Come on Baka! You can do better than that!"

Ichigo muttered a stream of obscenities under his breath as he picked himself off the ground. His entire body hurt, and his reryuku was almost depleted. Damn that little she-devil, couldn't she see that he was nearly out for the count?

A flying shoe impacted with his forehead without warning.

Obviously not.

"You're a pathetic excuse for a vizard, you've only just breached the 10 second mark, and you can't seem to reform it enough times for that weakness to be nullified. Face it strawberry, you suck!" Hiyori yelled, the distorted voice of her Hollow form still somehow managing to sound irritatingly like a bratty child.

"I'll show you!" he yelled, forcing his leaden limbs to move as he once more summoned the powers of his inner Hollow, lending power to his otherwise exhausted body.

He raised Zangetsu high as he charged at his tormenter/trainer, a loud yell spilling from his lips, only to be stopped by the thin frame of the unofficial Vizard leader.

"Enough Hiyori," Shinji stated, his tone allowing no arguments, "We don't want to kill him, we still need him."

"I wasn't gonna kill him." Hiyori protested loudly as she allowed her transformation to fall, "I was just gonna…hurt him a bit"

"Hurt me?" Ichigo shouted disbelievingly, "Haven't you done enough of that already!"

"Urusai! It's good for you, you know, what doesn't kill you…"

"…will only try harder next time!" Shinji interjected, only to have Hiyori's shoe impact with his face…again.

Ichigo flopped down as Hiyori began to chase Shinji all around the vizard training ground, glad to be able to take a break. His entire body was one big ache, but overall he felt good. He could no longer hear the insidious whispers of his inner hollow; instead his mind was completely his once more.

A loud thump brought him out of his introspection as the large vizard everyone called Hachi sat down beside him.

"Are you well Kurosaki Ichigo?" the pink haired man inquired gently, his manner completely at odds with his large size.

"I'm fine, just sore, it's better than the alternative, right?"

"That is true," the big vizard looked up at the false sky, allowing silence to settle around them, interrupted only by the argument going on, "It is a good feeling, being in control once more."

Ichigo looked over at Hachi, he had never really thought about the implications of the vizards, it was hard to imagine that such a kindly man had gone through the same struggle with his inner Hollow, and had defeated it too.

"It gets easier Kurosaki-san, don't worry."

For some reason, Ichigo couldn't formulate the biting retort that he would have used had anyone else said that to him. The huge vizard was too kind to deserve such treatment.

"I'll have to take your word on it" Ichigo replied quietly as he lay down on the ground to rest.

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Urahara stared blankly as all his monitoring equipment reversed, the machinery that were dead whirred to life and the active equipment fell quiet.

"What the…"

He got up from his desk and walked over to the inactive equipment that had been monitoring the destabilisation field. Turning his head to the now active scanners and communication lines, Urahara allowed himself to curse.

He had been so close to determining the exact locations of the field emitters, and with them he could have determined how to nullify the effects. Now the field was retracted they would undoubtedly move the devices.

A crackle of static alerted Urahara to the fact that Soul Society had also noticed the drop in the shield.

"Hello…hello…" the voice came out of his listening device, "Ukitake-taicho can you hear me?"

"This is Ukitake," Urahara couldn't help but frown at the tiredness in the long-haired captain's voice. The frown was quickly replaced with a sly grin as he allowed himself to bask in the sounds of his monitoring devices.

And everyone wondered how he knew so much.

oOo

"You can't contact Hitsugaya-taicho?" Ukitake spoke into his communicator.

"That's right sir, there's no signal."

The sickly man allowed himself a sigh, "did you contact 10th? They are probably already in contact with him."

The embarrassed silence on the other end of the line told him that no, they had not thought to inquire whether 10th division were in contact with their commander.

Ukitake merely shook his head, "What are Sotaicho's orders?"

"Yamamoto-sotaicho orders you to return to Soul Society immediately, along with your team, he said to inform you that further orders will be issued once you have returned."

"What of Hitsugaya-taicho?" Ukitake inquired curiously.

"Hitsugaya-taicho and his team are to remain on standby in the material world until further notice" the communications officer responded.

"I'll need a 4th division healing team sent to my location, several of my men are injured and I am currently indisposed" Ukitake ordered.

"Hai Ukitake-taicho, a medical team will be sent through shortly, Seireitei command out."

Ukitake slowly reached up a tired hand and turned off the headset he was using, closing his eyes in relief as the incessant crackling that had persisted throughout the entire conversation ended.

He was impressed with himself; he had gone through the entire conversation without sounding as weak as he really was. If he was a thousand years younger he would have been cursing by now, he was a living, sort of, embodiment of the phrase 'the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak'.

Having as clear a mind as ever stuck in a body that couldn't do anything would have driven him insane back then, but now he just lay there, waiting for sleep to claim him. Some might have said that his thoughts were suicidal, but Ukitake would definitely call them fools.

He had every reason to continue living, he had people to look after, people he cared for, and he had Shunsui, who would follow him into death. And that was the real reason, wasn't it, the reason he never once allowed the thought of death settle into his mind, even at his worst. He had been sick for over two millennia, but the thought of ending his life was not an option, he was too selfish.

How could he let Shunsui go?

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Grimmjow allowed himself a smirk as he looked at his Arrancar, the ones who had followed him since they were adjuchas.

He was their king, and they would follow him wherever he went. That was the deal, protection for worship, and he was powerful enough to protect them from damn near everything.

It wasn't like he cared; it was just a good stroke to the ego.

"Where are we going?" asked the tall and slender Shawlong Koufang, the group's unofficial leader, his calculating gaze resting firmly on the blue haired Espada.

"There's this annoying bug in the mortal realm, Aizen's been watching him and he seems like a threat, so I wanna go take him down" Grimmjow responded.

"It doesn't sound like Aizen-sama's given permission for this venture" the dark haired Arrancar said silkily.

"He didn't specifically say it couldn't be done."

"Better to ask forgiveness then?" inquired the bulky Arrancar standing next to Shawlong, his mask fragment resting on his nose like a pair of glasses.

"Exactly."

The Arrancar, known as Edorad Leones, chuckled softly, "Then let's go and find this bug and squash him."

Grimmjow opened a Garganta and stepped through it into the cool breeze of the material realm, the stars twinkling above his head and the city shining at his feet. Why this city was so important, he didn't know, but somewhere there was an orange haired Shinigami just waiting to be killed.

"Find a target, wipe them out, anyone with a discernable reiatsu should be eliminated. Even if that doesn't get him, it'll drive him out"

The weaker Arrancar bowed their heads as they concentrated, picking up the latent power from all spiritual or spiritually aware beings in the area.

Grimmjow smiled wildly, "Go get them"

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Ok, first let's gut the competition out of the way, this chapter, I'll give out the answers for the questions of Chapter 1, that means that these are no longer valid questions and will no longer be counted towards your final score if you give me an answer to them.

**Answers for chapter 1**

The question was: Hitsugaya mentions that a good friend of his died horribly when he is talking to Ichigo, who is this friend?

The answer is: Ishida Soken, father of Ryuken and grandfather of Uryuu, Soken was a powerful Quincy whom Hitsugaya befriended some forty years before the main storyline (I have a two shot in the making in regards to this).

The question was: In the same scene Hitsugaya quotes a line from a poem of the same name, who wrote the poem?

The answer is: Paul Lawrence Dunbar, 'We wear the Mask' is my favourite poem.

**Questions for chapter 4**

What is the spirit of Ryujin Jakka? (In this fic)

What is the disruption field based off of and what anime does the idea come from? (This is worth two points)

There, now the competition is dealt with I get to rant. I hate this chapter, I hate it so much, it is the result of forcing my way through writer's block, as well as the irritation at the latest anime episodes (170ish onwards). Absolutely nothing came to me and I honestly think this is the worst chapter I've ever written.

Please, if you've spotted anything that you think I should fix, anything at all, let me know. I've probably missed it in sheer disgust at the chapter.

Now the rant is over, I will thankyou very much for getting this far and continuing to support the story.

In particular I would like to thank everyone who added this story to their C2, I have enjoyed many hours of wading through them to see what else was put in there and I can say I thoroughly enjoyed reading the stories contained within.

Also to my repeat reviewers, thankyou, your support helps me continue to write, and it is for you that I will continue even when I feel the story was a mistake and I should stop.

Once more I thankyou for reading and I hope you liked it.

Until next time.


	6. Chapter 5

Yes, you saw it right, its a short chapter, please read the Author Note at the end of this...I apologise for the low quality of this chapter, but I couldn't do any more with it...

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Chapter 5

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Night had once again fallen on Karakura town when the sky seemed to split open, allowing a group of Arrancar into the material plane.

Once more a tainted presence permeated this most unfortunate of areas. Several beings picked up on it immediately, their power and control allowing them to quickly pinpoint the tiny ball of twisted reiatsu that signified Arrancar.

oOo

Deep underground in a derelict district of the town Shinji quickly glanced in the direction of the energy, before signalling to Hachi. The large Vizard nodded and rapidly muttered an incantation.

Just like that the presence could no longer be felt; it was as if it had never been there at all. Shinji allowed himself a sigh of relief as Ichigo continued to train with the others. The boy's terrible reiatsu control may have frustrated him to no end but in this situation it was definitely an advantage.

The Shinigami were just going to have to deal with this problem on their own.

oOo

For the second time in nearly as many days, Ishida Uryu was shocked out of his training by the feeling of tainted reiatsu.

His father had left him a couple of hours ago, activating a series of training devices that seemed to serve no other purpose than drive him to exhaustion. If that were the case then they were certainly doing their job.

Near collapse and drenched in sweat Uryu moved rapidly towards the exit of the training ground. He had let them down before, he wasn't going to again.

Like magic the entrance opened before him, and with disbelief he ran towards it, ready to help the city.

He almost didn't see the spiritual arrow, and he certainly wasn't able to dodge it. The blue light struck him in his chest, then a burning feeling spread throughout his entire body and his vision blackened.

The last thing he saw was his father, arm outstretched in the classic archery position.

oOo

Hitsugaya started in surprise as he felt the presence of Arrancar flicker along the edges of his consciousness. He dropped the book he had been reading and lay down on the hotel room bed, removing himself from his gigai the minute it appeared in a sleeping position. The do not disturb sign he had put on the door would ensure no trouble would befall his faux body.

Leaping out of the window, Hitsugaya couldn't help but wonder why Aizen was so active at the moment. Was he just stretching his muscles, or was there some higher purpose for all these attacks and disruptions?

As he moved quickly towards the dark reiatsu he came to the conclusion that there had to be some yet unknown reason for his actions. Aizen was a puppet master, he orchestrated people and events so well that it was near impossible that his objectives would be understood until it was already too late to stop him.

And on top of all that, he could feel Hyorinmaru grow restless within his mind, every so often there would be the sensation of a cold breeze on his face, or the rasping of scales on ice echoing in his ear, but his zanpakuto would not respond. It was yet another concern on the small Shinigami's already overburdened shoulders.

He could feel the rest of his team moving out to subdue the threat, but the enemy had begun splitting up, spreading across the city in a seemingly random pattern, if you had no talent for the sensing of reiatsu that is.

They were going after those who had any discernable level of reiatsu, and some of them weren't even going for those who could defend themselves.

Hitsugaya stopped suddenly. One of the Arrancar was heading towards the Kurosaki household, and he wasn't sure that Isshin was recovered enough to stop it.

He quickly made a decision, the others would be able to handle these Arrancar, after all, they were not overly powerful. He would have to stop the much more powerful one from attacking the Kurosaki family.

As he ran towards the Arrancar he pulled out his communicator, quickly sending a message for a freeze to be placed around the city, as well as a request for permission to release their limiters.

Hitsugaya couldn't help but wonder what Aizen was up to now. Everything done thus far had to be part of the man's schemes, but their purpose eluded him. An odd noise startled him out of his thoughts, and the young taicho flash stepped off the roof he had been running along and onto a power pole as the red blast of a Cero impacted with his previous position.

Fury filled his veins like creeping ice, this Arrancar was slowing him down, when he needed to get to the Kurosaki clinic.

Hyourinmaru roared in his mind, the sound would send chills through the sturdiest foes, but to Hitsugaya it was a sound of encouragement. No time for restraint, no time to dance around his opponent as he preferred, he would have to take the Zaraki approach.

It was all getting to him now, constant attacks had frazzled him, and his barriers still had cracks in them after his conversation with Kurosaki.

His eyes glowed red with his strength, and the Arrancar known as Shawlong Koufang took a startled step back, even with his limiter on, his power had increased exponentially.

He didn't know where it was coming from, this feeling of nearly limitless reryuku and he didn't care. It was colder than anything he had ever experienced, more comforting than he could describe, and so…powerful.

"Bankai" Was the whispered word that hung in the street, and the world erupted into a forest of ice, and the Arrancar ceased to exist, completely overwhelmed by the sheer power that had emanated from the small taicho.

As quickly as it came it was gone, and Hitsugaya was left feeling the same comfortable power he had had since reaching his level, the slow growth that was natural for him meant he hardly noticed when it increased.

That was nothing like what he had just experienced. It had been very brief, a blip on the radar, but the sheer depth of it was…indescribable.

'_Hyourinmaru?'_ he questioned softly even as he resumed his course straight for the Kurosaki residence.

'_I do not know little one,'_ normally he would have been insulted at being called little, but his Zanpakuto was a dragon, and even Komamura was little to Hyourinmaru, _'It feels like I should know, and it seemed familiar somehow, but my mind has no knowledge of it at all'_

Putting the event aside for the moment, for it had harmed neither him nor his companion, Hitsugaya flew through the air on wings of ice, faster than he could move on foot, towards the feeling of tainted reiatsu that lay before him.

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Hitsugaya appeared in front of the Kurosaki clinic mere seconds after Grimmjow had arrived. Teal eyes took in the Arrancar standing before him.

Tall and muscular, with blue hair, green-blue eyes, and a mask fragment on the side of its face, this Arrancar felt stronger than his previous opponent, enough so that he felt concerned as he and the Arrancar stood across from each other.

"Well, not what I was expecting, but you'll do for now" the Arrancar said casually as he grinned ferally, "you downed Shawlong so quickly, so you should be strong enough to last a little while"

Hitsugaya snorted, "You're a bit full of yourself Arrancar" he said calmly, Hyourinmaru's comfortable weight in his hand.

"Hehe, you seem to be underestimating me taicho-san" the Arrancar replied, a feral grin on his face as he took a step towards the snow haired Shinigami, delighting in the way Hitsugaya tightened his guard, "Oh? Perhaps you aren't as confident as you want me to believe" the blue haired monstrosity snickered before flying towards Hitsugaya at a speed that would be impossible to track for a normal Shinigami.

As it were, Grimmjow was not fighting a normal Shinigami, his opponent was the youngest taicho of the Gotei 13, and he had not earned that title lightly.

A flash of light reflected off of the pristine blade of Hyourinmaru as it struck out at Grimmjow, the deadly edge of the Zanpakuto seeking to end the life of its target, only to be blocked by an equally pristine blade.

"Oh, seems you might have a little bite after all Taicho-san" Grimmjow taunted, not at all concerned in the face of his opponent. Trading slices with eachother, the two seemed to be evenly matched in skill, in power however...

'_This is bad'_ Hitsugaya thought as he duelled with the Arrancar, he was outmatched by the power of the blue haired abomination, and even should he use his limit release he was unsure as to whether or not he would have the power to win.

'_Very bad...'_ the thought floated through Hitsugaya's head even as a gleaming blade swung towards its target.

oOo

Tousen knelt before Aizen, his head down as he waited for his orders, his hair falling around his face as the silence dragged on for a moment.

"Grimmjow went to the material realm" Aizen stated simply, the words ringing through the silence.

"Aa" Tousen responded after a while of silence, realising that his leader was not yet ready to continue.

"I want you to retrieve him, dispose of the others he took with him, if they haven't already been taken care of by the Shinigami" came the order, calmly, as if he had not just ordered the death of several subordinates.

"Hai Aizen-sama" the ex-taicho responded evenly, the tone of his voice enough to alert Aizen that something was wrong.

"What troubles you Kaname?" the nominal ruler of Hueco Mundo inquired, sounding almost as if he actually cared.

"Nothing Aizen-sama, I will carry out your orders" Tousen responded evenly, his head kept down as he knelt before his commander.

"You cannot fool me Kaname" Aizen frowned, as though disappointed, "Share your thoughts with me"

"It is simply...why did you allow him to go if you wish for him to return, Aizen-sama?" Tousen's voice was even, despite the fact he was actually slightly nervous at questioning Aizen.

"That is for me to know Kaname, please, go and retrieve Grimmjow now"

"Hai, Aizen-sama"

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Hitsugaya stared in shock as his opponent disappeared through the Garganta opened by none other than Tousen, the blue haired Arrancar trailing sullenly behind the ex-Taicho.

The fight had been brutal, and Hitsugaya was secretly glad of Tousen's appearance. Without that mysterious power from before, he would have been defeated eventually, most likely sooner than later.

As it was, he was tired, sore, and not a little confused. These events were coming so fast and so close together that he was overwhelmed; Aizen was moving so fast, trying to throw them all off balance perhaps. That was the only logical explanation he could think of, there was nothing else that came to mind.

Naturally there could be other reasons for this, but that was going to take time to investigate, and with Aizen's current schedule, it didn't really seem like he had the time to do it.

He had work to do it seemed, it was never ending

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End Chapter 5

AN:

Firstly, I am terribly sorry for the huge time period between chapters, I also apologise for the crappiness and shortness of this chapter.

I lost the first half of it twice in a row, and couldn't rewrite it to my satisfaction, and then Bleach lost its appeal to me, probably because this chapter failed twice in a row and I couldn't even look at it.

Then I went to Uni, and haven't written anything since...

I don't know if this is the last chapter I'll post to this story, I guess that's up to the responses (if any) this gets. I may abandon it, I may not, I guess its up to you readers

No questions this chapter, since it sucks, I hate it, and I'm only posting it to get it out there so that if I do write another chapter for this, it'll be from a clean slate, not writing something that I had to do three times in a row.

Once again, I'm truly sorry


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